Mission to the end of Time

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, (...) And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Mathew 28:19-20

"(...) When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?" Luke 18:8

Christ’s missionary mandate took place when, before ascending to heaven, he fulfilled his mission as the one sent by the Father. Thus began the mission Ad Gentes, or the mission of space, as Christ sent his disciples all over the world.

But as spatial-temporal beings that we are, mission also has a historical and temporal dimension, Intra Gentes, which consists of passing on the gospel from generation to generation to the ends of time. In short, mission Ad Gentes to the ends of the earth and mission Intra Gentes to the ends of time.

Recap of what was said before
The witness of authentic Christians arouses the faith of those who witness it; those who dare to make the choice of faith will come, through their experience of God, to the full conviction that they have not believed in vain; this experience, that is, the personal encounter with Christ and the establishment of a loving and intimate relationship with him, leads to salvation, in other words, to health of body and soul, to conversion, to a change of life.

Finally, this new Christian in turn begins to bear witness to the salvation that God has worked in his life, and he too can awaken faith in those who come into contact with him. It is in this sense that we missionaries always insist that every authentic Christian must be a missionary or he is not a Christian. We began with testimony, and we return to testimony as the beginning of the process that leads: to the choice of faith - to the experience of God - to a change of life, and - to the mission, which is nothing other than singing, like Mary, our personal Magnificat, that is, bearing witness to the wonders that the Lord has worked in us.

Mission Intra Gentes
As the disciples began to put into practice the mandate they had received from the Lord in Jerusalem, converts were springing up everywhere. These new Christians were invited to gather into small communities. St. Paul was the founder of many of them, those in Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica etc.

While St. Paul and the other apostles continued their toil as "fishers of men", a name that the Lord himself had given to his apostles, someone had to look after these small, newly formed communities. Thus, came about the first shepherds to look after the sheep of the Lord's flock. Titus, Timothy, and Philemon were some of these collaborators to whom the Apostle entrusted the communities he had set up.

Therefore, already in apostolic times, as a logical consequence of the mission Ad Gentes – that of taking the gospel to the whole world – the mission Intra Gentes was born, that is, the mission that takes place within the bosom of a people and consists of passing on the gospel from generation to generation to the ends of time. We can therefore conclude that the mission Ad Gentes is the mission of fishermen, while the mission Intra Gentes is the mission of shepherds.

The mission Intra Gentes, like every welfare state, is based on the ethical value of solidarity between generations: those who work now contribute a percentage of their salary so that their parents, the previous generation, can enjoy a pension. In social state, solidarity is with the previous generation; in mission Intra Gentes, it is with the next generation. Like all education, Christian education is also aerial: when parents live their Christianity authentically, they awaken faith and the same experience in their children.

With all that it has done for the spiritual and material progress of peoples, the mission Ad Gentes has been called by some "the washed face of the Church". Plagued by scandals and dropouts, the mission Intra Gentes appears to have a less presentable face. The gospel seems to be progressing at the forefront and regressing at the rear.

In the Western world, during the Ancient and Middle Ages, passing on the gospel from generation to generation was a relatively easy task; since the Renaissance, the flock has been losing sheep. The attempt of the Second Vatican Council to adapt the Church to the modern world has not reversed this trend; today the problem is alarming. Proof of this is the constant concern of the popes, from Paul VI who declared the first Year of Faith, then John Paul II launched the New Evangelization, and later, Benedict XVI declared the Year of Faith the second time in the Church.

"Faith either holds fast or fades away"
"I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word" (John 17:20). In his priestly prayer, Christ thought of all those who, from generation to generation, would receive the Good News. Our faith in Christ is apostolic because since the apostles it has been passed down from generation to generation, like the baton in a relay race is passed from athlete to athlete.

I am with you always, to the end of the age. We can take it for granted that Christ will always be with us, but will we always be with him?

When the Son of Man returns, will he find faith on earth? It is an enigma and a possibility; parents, catechists, teachers, pastors, and educators in general are failing to pass on the faith to future generations, who are becoming increasingly unbelieving. A faith that is weakened from generation to generation could end up disappearing from human history altogether; it is possible that when Christ comes the second time, to judge the living and the dead, he will find no faith on earth.

When a radio or television signal arrives weakly at a place, it is necessary to erect an antenna tower to strengthen the signal. As someone once said, "Faith either holds fast or fades away". The passing on of Christ from generation to generation is the equivalent of Christ’s resurrection for that generation and for the generations that follow: not passing on is the equivalent of his death for both the present and the future generations.

Christ is being resurrected from one generation to the next, or is dying from one generation to the next. If the current trend continues, one day the historical death of Christ could become the death of Christ in history. In order not to be part of the problem, let us be part of the solution; that is, in this relay race or chain of transmission of the faith, let us not be the weakest link. We are always in a time of mission because it only ends when Christ is all in all (1Corinthians 15:28).

Fr. Jorge Amaro, IMC