I.

Introduction

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a God.

ἐν ἀρχῇ ην ὁ λόγος καὶ ὁ λόγος ἦν πρὸς τὸν θεόν καὶ θεὸς ην ὁ λόγος

Mission is an attribute of Jesus, the Word made flesh. Dominus Iesus posits that “in

contemporary theological reflections there often emerges an approach to Jesus of Nazareth that

considers him a particular, finite, historical figure, who reveals the divine not in an exclusive way,

but in a way complementary with other revelatory and salvific figures.”1 However, “this thesis is

in profound conflict with the Christian faith. The doctrine of faith must be firmly believed which

proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth, son of Mary, and he alone, is the Son and the Word of the

Father.”2 The Word, which “was in the beginning with God” (John 1:2) is the same as he who

“become flesh” (John1:14).3

That is why, in our Christian faith, The Word Himself is unique and the uniqueness of this

Word is that He willed to have a personal relation to humanity. And this reaching out of the Word

is what we called the Mission of the Trinity.

In Egyptian civilization, gods had had no resemblance of reality. They were unlike all

living things. For example, in their places of worship, there were towering colossus, immobile,

beyond the power of the imagination. Or a rigid figure of a woman with a cat’s head suggesting

inflexibility. Or a monstrous mysterious sphinx, aloof from all human lives.4 However, with the

1
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus (Washington D.C.: Libreria
Editrice Vaticana-USCCB, 2011), 19.
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
4
Edith Hamilton, Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes, (New York: Black Dog and Leventhal
Publishers, 2017), 3.

1
coming forward of Greek civilization, humankind became the center of the universe.5 And so, the

Greeks made their gods in their own image.6 However, these Greek gods depend their power on

the prayers of men.

In the rising of Christian civilization, we put God at the center of all created beings. This

time, God is not anymore remote but someone who is one and personal. Thus, in Christianity the

profession of faith in the oneness of God is just as radical as in any monotheistic religion; indeed,

only in Christianity does it reach its full stature.7 This Almighty God who created man in his image

and likeness, is absolute and complete. And thus, He will be forever God with or without the

prayers of men. St. Paul said the invisible must be understood by the visible. The God to be

understood by humanity must be incarnated to human flesh Jesus so that humanity could

comprehend the very reality of God’s love.

“…and the Word was made flesh. And made his dwelling among us” (John 1: 14). The

word λόγος (logos) in the prologue of John is a word with a very interesting scriptural, theological

and missiological value. In Scriptures, the Logos is translated into 'Word' in English versions, this

expression is the theme of the entire gospel. Λόγος is from the root λεγ, appearing in λεγω, the

primitive word meaning ‘to lay’ or ‘to pick up’. Later, this gathering or putting words together will

eventually mean, ‘to speak’. Hence λόγος is, first of all, collecting both things and words in the

mind by which they are expressed.’8

The ‘word’ here points directly to Genesis 1, where the act of creation is caused by God

speaking. The idea of God who is hidden in nature willed to reveal Himself in creation by speaking

5
Ibid.
6
Ibid.
7
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, trans. J.R. Foster and Michael J. Miller (San
Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2004), 188.
8
Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament, vol. 2 (New York: Scribners, 1887), 25-33.

2
His Word. This the root of the Logos-idea and the very foundation of mission. This develops itself

in the Old Testament on three appearances. First, the divine being personified in Hebrew poetry.

Thus, divine attributes are founded on the revelation of God in law and prophecy in the Hebrew

people. Second, the personified wisdom. This personification is based on the thought that wisdom

is not hidden but is active and manifest in the world. Third, the Angel of Yahweh. The messenger

of God who serves as His agent in the world of sense, and is sometimes distinguished from God

and sometimes identical with. Thus, the attributes of God, the personified wisdom and the

messenger of God arrived in full truth in the person of Jesus Christ who is the Word Himself.

Theologically, the Logos of John is the real, personal God who was originally before the

creation with God, who was God, one in essence and nature, yet personally distinct. He was not

made but consubstantial with the Father. This Logos is the revealer and interpreter of the

hiddenness of God and the very visible image of God accomplishing the redemption of the world.

Ratzinger would tell us that “these are the idea of the ‘mission” and the description of Jesus as the

‘Word’ (Logos) of God. “Mission” theology is again theology of being as relation and of relation

as mode of unity.’9

And this uniqueness of the Word is necessary in the world. As Christians, understanding

the uniqueness of Jesus is an obligation. “As a remedy for this relativistic mentality, which is

becoming ever more common, it is necessary above all to understand the definitive and complete

character of the revelation of Jesus Christ. In fact, it must be firmly believed that, in the mystery

of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Son of God, who is ‘the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6), the

full revelation of divine truth is given: ‘No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows

9
Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 30.

3
the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him’ (Mt. 11:27).”10

Therefore, the theory of the limited, incomplete, or imperfect character of the revelation of Jesus

Christ is contrary to the Church’s faith.11 This unique Word of God is a sign of contradiction in

the world. In a world of indifference and impersonal relationship, the Word remains unique in its

claim.12 Then what is the that claim? That the Word is The Way, The Truth, and The Life to the

Father who offered personal relationship to humanity. Thus, Jesus the Divine Word is the only

universal Savior of humanity.13 When we say that Jesus is the only savior of humanity,14 we do

not mean that salvation is only exclusive to Christianity, we only state a reality that in all religious

systems of the world, Jesus is the only divine who reached out to his people and become personal

to us thus valid on His claim as the only Savior of humanity. As the words of Athanasius of

Alexandria, what has not been assumed has not been saved.15

10
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration Dominus Iesus, 15.
11
Ibid, 16.
12
Raymond Gawronski, Word and Silence (Michigan: William B. Eermans Publishing Company, 1995),
105.
13
Ibid, 67.
14
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio,
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils (accessed April 9, 2019).
15

4
 II. Mission Via Rationis

The Almighty God is not an absurd being nor illogical in His ways. Rather, He is the God of

order and reason. He created the whole universe with precision and accuracy. He also created

Adam with intellect and reason to comprehend His ways. And so, we are capable of reasoning as

a way to approach and comprehend the Almighty. This reason is also our way to understand our

mission, not our own mission but the mission of God. And the science of mission is called

Missiology. Our mission through the way of reason is understanding theology and missiology in

the reality of the Missio Dei.

To understand missiology, we shall first define its meaning. According to Robert J. Priest,

a professor of mission and anthropology, “(M)issiology is an interdisciplinary discipline which,

through research, writing, and teaching, furthers the acquisition, development, and transmission of

theologically-informed, contextually-grounded, and ministry-oriented knowledge and

understanding ”16 Ed Stetser,17 on the other hand defines mission as “accomplished at the

intersection of gospel, culture, and the church. It is a multi-disciplinary study that incorporates

theology, anthropology/sociology, and ecclesiology.”18 For this reason missiology constitutes its

own discipline. In the definition given above, we could say that missiology is not only grounded

in theological reflection, it is also grounded in anthropological and sociological research.

Missiology requires thoughtful engagement with the human situation in light of theology and the

16
Robert Priest, “What in the World is Missiology!?,” March 7, 2012,
http://www.missiologymatters.com/2012/03/07/what-in-the-world-is-missiology/ (accessed June 19, 2015).
17
Ed Stetser (born 1966) is an author, speaker, researcher, pastor, church planter, and Christian missiologist.
Stetzer is a contributor to the North American discussion on missional church and church planting.
18
Rich Starcher, “Missiology: An International Review,” June 2015, http://mis.sagepub.com/ (accessed June
19, 12015).

5
task of Christian mission. As missiologists, we have to use the tools of qualitative and quantitative

research to gain greater insight into the mission field. Missiology is grounded in “research,” not

merely “reflection.”

Foundational to missiology is knowing the God who is on mission. Hence in the science

of mission it is important to embrace the culture of a specific place where God is already there and

choses to reveal Himself in their own context and culture. For the writer, missiology is theology

that takes culture earnestly. Missiology, reveals to us the richness of God’s initiative to humankind

and the importance of culture as a prime mover of people in his relationship with his/her God.

While informed by theology, missiology is also strongly anthropological. It takes root on the

basis of research and thorough deliberation and reflection of facts. Through it, we shall be

convinced that indeed, missiology is our path to understand mission through the way of reason.

1. Missio Trinitatis

Ad Gentes Divinitus of Vatican II Council states that:

The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the
Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the
decree of God the Father.

This decree, however, flows from the fount - like love or charity of God the Father who,
being the principle without principle from whom the Son is begotten and Holy Spirit
proceeds through the Son, freely creating us on account of His surpassing and merciful
kindness and graciously calling us moreover to share with Him His life and His cry, has
generously poured out, and does not cease to pour out still, His divine goodness.19

19
Vatican Archives, “Ad Gentes,” www.vatican.va/archive/hist.../ii.../vat-ii_decree_19651207_ad-
gentes_en.htm (accessed April 9, 2019).

6
 First and foremost, the Trinity is the font and summit of mission. It is called Missio Trinitatis.

It is from the Trinity that we received the gift of mission as a Church. What is mission in the

context of Trinity? It is the over flowing love or charity of the Trinity to humanity so that He could

graciously and generously share His life to us.

In discussing Missio Trinitatis, we shall touch in this paper our little knowledge on the mystery

of the Trinity. Pope Benedict XVI in an address to the 12th Ordinary General Assembly of the

Synod of Bishops asked a question, ‘If God were not Trinity, would it be possible to encounter the

Word in words?’20 And so, realistically, the answer is no. God speaks because He is Trinity.21

Thus, foundational to missiology is knowing the Trinity who is on mission. The act of the Trinity

speaking is the very Missio Trinitatis. The uniqueness of the Triune God is that He willed to be in

mission in order to have personal relation to humanity. therefore, The Triune God is the origin of

mission.

First, it is a matter beyond all question that there was no knowledge of the Trinity in the Old

Testament period. This knowledge came only with the person and the message of Jesus Christ.

Moreover, the early Christian writers found references to the mystery implied in the Hebrew

Scriptures like the appearance of the three individuals at Abraham’s tent (Gen 18:2).

The Old Testament contains categories used to express and elaborate the Trinity in mission.

That traces of the Trinity (Vestigia Trinitatis) and understanding it is the key to reveal the mystery

of the mission of the Trinity both in the Jewish scriptures and in the Christian bible. To put this

negatively, a theology of the mission of the Trinity that ignores or down plays the Old Testament

20
Lorenzo Leuzzi, The Word in the Church (Washington DC: Liberia Editrice Vaticana,200), 78.
21
Ibid.

7
can only be radically deficient. Something essential will be missing from what we mean by mission

of the Trinity if we ignore our Jewish roots. Here, there are 3 ways of articulating the creative,

revelatory, and redemptive mission of God. First, the Divine Wisdom of mission. Second, the

Word of mission. Third and last, the Spirit of mission.

A. The Divine Wisdom of Mission

Personified Wisdom or Sophia becomes increasingly related to the divine work of creation,

salvation, and mission. In Job, it expressed the mysterious inaccessibility of divine Wisdom, which

is quite beyond reach of human beings; utterly precious; and accessible only to God. Wisdom then

is seen constantly as divine gift rather that human achievement. In Proverbs, it announces the role

of wisdom in creation. She is not only existed with God before everything else but also cooperated

in the divine work of creation and mission to all creation.

B. The Word of Mission

Like Lady Wisdom, the Word is God and was with God from the beginning (Gen. 1:1 – 2:4).

At times, the Old Testament scriptures set word in parallelism with spirit or breath as instruments

of the mission to create: “The Word of the Lord created the heavens; all the host of heaven was

formed by the breath of his mouth.” (Ps. 33:6); Word also personified the divine mission in the

story of the chosen people’s deliverance from Egypt. The book of Wisdom (18:15-16) declares:

“Your all-powerful Word leaped from heaven… into the midst of the land that was doomed; a

stern warrior… he stood and filled all things with death. In brief, word matches wisdom as a way

of expressing God’s creative, revelatory and salvific mission to humanity.

8
 C. The Spirit of Mission

The Spirit of mission, which shows up frequently in the Old Testament, is a third way of

articulating the creative, revelatory, and redemptive mission of God. When dealing with God’s

spirit, the Old Testament highlighted its power as wind, as the breath of life, or as the divine

inspiration that comes upon prophets. At creation the spirit of mission hovered over the surface of

the water. Significantly, spirit takes possession of prophets to empower them speak God’s word.

Spirit and wisdom are likewise identified: When God gives wisdom, this is equivalent to sending

the “Holy Spirit” (Wis. 9:17) Other Old Testament books link and even identify spirit and wisdom.

In other words, like word and wisdom, the spirit is also and always a way of articulating the divine

mission and revelation. Later in the Christian concept, the theology of Holy Spirit will be

developed in its proper theology of mission.

In their creative, revelatory and redemptive involvement, Wisdom, Word, and Spirit took

on divine roles to fulfill the mission of the Trinity. These notions were available for the followers

of Jesus, when they set out to express the economic missions in salvation history of the Son and

of the Spirit, as well as their inseparable role in the creation and conservation of the whole universe.

Here, we can conclude that the love of the Trinity is diffusive because it is a missionary

love. And the Trinity willed to share this love not only His private life but also the whole human

race.

2. Jesus is the First Missionary

Ratzinger is clear when we wrote ‘by its application to Jesus of Nazareth, the concept of logos

acquires a new dimension. The logos Christology, as “word” theology, is once again the opening

9
up of being to the idea of relationship.22 Jesus is the first missionary of Missio Trinitatis and the

mission of Jesus the Divine Word is to set a new relationship with humanity- a relationship which

is personal and eternal. He is the revealer of mission and the Mission Himself. He is messenger at

the same the message. And what is the message? The message of love of the Trinity to humanity.

To understand this, let me first present to you who is Jesus in the light of the Church.

Christ’s divinity is defined by the Church in the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, that Jesus is

truly God. That he is ‘begotten from the Father before all ages as to his divinity.’ 23 During the

Council of Ephesus, the unity of two natures in one person of Christ, both God and Man, is being

emphasized. Thus, the two natures (human and divine) are united in one person, who is Jesus

Christ. Moreover, Hypostatic union is the permanent union of divine and human natures in the

one divine person (hypostasis) of the Word (logos) in Jesus Christ.24

Two natures of Christ is without confusion or change, without division or separation. The

distinction between the natures was never abolished by their union but rather the character proper

to each of the two natures was preserved as they come together in one person (prosopon) or one

hypostasis. He is not split or divided into two persons, but he is one and the same only-begotten

Son, God the Word, the Lord Jesus Christ. The historical man Jesus is the Son of God, and he Son

of God is the man Jesus.25

Furthermore, the Council of Chalcedon in 451 A.D, opposes those who attempted to divide

the mystery of the incarnation into two sons. It excludes from the sacred assembly those dare to

declare subject to suffering the divinity of the Only-begotten. It withstands those who imagine a

22
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity,189.
23
Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ, 181.
24
J. Neuner and J. Dupuis, The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic Church (USA:
St. Pauls, 2001), 220.
25
Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Introduction to Christianity, 194.

10
mixture or confusion of Christ’s two natures (phusis). It rejects those who believe that the form of

servant assumed by him among us is of a heavenly nature and foreign to ours in essence (ousia).

It condemns those who invent the myth of two natures of the Lord before the union and of one

nature after the union.26 The Church’s Magisterium, faithful to divine revelation, reasserts that

Jesus Christ is the mediator and the universal redeemer: ‘For God’s Word, by whom all things

were made, was Himself made flesh so that as perfect man He might save all men and sum up all

things in Himself.27

If we go back to the beginnings of the Church, we find a clear affirmation that Christ is the

one Savior of all, the only one able to reveal God and lead to God. 28 If Jesus Christ the first

missionary of the Missio Dei. He is the epitome and the model of mission. His life is our life. His

mission is our mission.

3. Spirit: The Fire of Mission

If the Father is the origin of mission and the Son is the first missionary sent by the Father, the

Holy Spirit is the fire of mission who brings life and passion to the world. John Paul II in

Redemptoris Missio wrote “The Holy Spirit is indeed the principal agent of the whole of the

Church's mission. His action is preeminent in the mission ad gentes, as can clearly be seen in the

early Church…The Spirit worked through the apostles, but at the same time he was also at work

26
J. Neuner and J. Dupuis, The Christian Faith in the Doctrinal Documents of the Catholic, 226.
27
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Declaration Dominus Iesus, 19.
28
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 5.

11
in those who heard them: "Through his action the Good News takes shape in human minds and

hearts and extends through history. In all of this it is the Holy Spirit who gives life."29

“The Second Vatican Council has recalled to the consciousness of the Church’s faith this

fundamental truth. In presenting the Father’s salvific plan for all humanity, the Council closely

links the mystery of Christ from its very beginnings with that of the Holy Spirit.” 30 Furthermore,

the document is clear that “the entire work of building the Church by Jesus Christ the Head, in the

course of the centuries, is seen as an action which he does in communion with the Spirit.”31

In Biblical times, St. Paul did not distinguish between the risen Christ and the Holy Spirit (cf.

2 Cor 3,17; Rom 8, 9-11). In both passages Christ is described as life giving Spirit. For Paul, the

resurrection makes Christ a life-giving Spirit. And that the Spirit is equal to the total existence in

God. For Evangelists Luke and John, the Father sent the Holy Spirit through the risen Christ (cf.

Jn 20,20). And thus, the Spirit is the reconciliation with God, consoler, companion, reminds us of

Jesus and a liberator from sin/slavery that which makes us call God as “Abba”.

Hence, “the mission of the Spirit is not outside or parallel to the mission of Christ. There is

only one Mission of the One and Triune God, realized in the mystery of the incarnation, death, and

resurrection of the Son of God, actualized with the cooperation of the Holy Spirit. And extended

in its salvific value to all humanity and to the entire universe: “No one, therefore, can enter into

communion with God except through Christ, by the working of the Holy Spirit.”32

29
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 21.
30
Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 3-4.
31
Ibid., 7.
32
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 28.

12
 4. Salvation- the Goal of Mission

Salvation is the goal of mission in the person of Jesus Christ and that through Christ “God

desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2: 4). And so,

Jesus Christ and his mission of redemption holds the centrality of our goal of mission. We believe

that, although the entire life of Christ has salvific value, his death on the cross sums up and

culminates his mission in the world. Through it, the forgiveness of sins was accomplished. The

early Christians believed that Jesus Christ was able to “reconcile us to God in his blood”

(Colossians 1:20), and that the purpose of his mission is to accomplish for them an everlasting

redemption.

Furthermore, the resurrection of Christ is the fulfillment of His mission and the fundamental

truth on which our faith is based since, as St. Paul says, “If Christ has not been raised, then our

preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain” (1 Cor. 15:14). The truth of the Divinity and mission

of Jesus is confirmed by his resurrection. Christ resurrection was the fulfillment of the promise of

the Old Testament which is the promise of life everlasting with the Father. Through his death,

Christ liberates us from sin. Through his resurrection, he gives us a chance to experience the love

of the Trinity. Through this, Jesus brings the mission of redemption of the human race to its

fulfillment, because it is a foretaste of our life together with the Trinity. Thus, the resurrection of

Jesus Christ is the greatest of all the realities, and, since it is the fulfillment of all prophecies, it is

the most decisive apologetic argument of the truth of our mission. The very fundamental and the

core, and the goal of our mission.

13
 III. Mission Via Pulchritudinis

Philokalia (φιλοκαλία) meaning love of the beautiful and good, is a collection of texts written

between the 4th and 15th centuries by spiritual masters of the Eastern Orthodox Church mystical

tradition.33 In contemplative prayer through Philokalia, the mind becomes absorbed in the

awareness of a beautiful God as a living presence as the source of being of all creatures.

Hence, beauty is understood as another way of bringing the mission to others because humans

are all drawn to beauty. And this beauty is a reflection of God who is beautiful. In the concluding

document of a Plenary Assembly in 2006, it was affirmed the importance of beauty in a world

where rational discourse is indeed grim. “With a spirit of suspicion hanging over truth and

goodness, the Via Pulchritudinis – the path of beauty – is now more than ever a necessity. It fosters

the faith of the people making them capable to witness to their faith and this, obviously not only

during liturgical celebrations, but also throughout life in general.”34

The way of Beauty is about the culture in the broadest sense of the word. It is about

how we live our lives in awe of our diverse cultures. It is a way of life for those who are

lovers of culture, not only on their own but on their encounters with the cultures of others.

Furthermore, this encounter with beauty offers a unique opportunity to encounter God because it

brings the person to the experience of God not through instruction, that is limited by verbal

systems, but through a direct encounter with the Divine. As Benedict XVI puts it, “Being struck

and overcome by the beauty of Christ is a more real, more profound knowledge than mere rational

33
Internet Archives, Full text of "Philokalia”,
https://archive.org/stream/Philokalia-TheCompleteText (accessed April 9, 2019).
34
Roman Curia, Concluding Document of The Plenary Assembly,
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils (accessed April 9, 2019).

14
deduction. Of course, we must not underrate the importance of theological reflection, of exact and

precise theological thought; it remains absolutely necessary”35

Thus, anything truly beautiful leads ultimately to the saving mission of Christ. The nature,

beautiful churches, rare artifacts, arts and cultures even good liturgy, friendship, and the lives of

the saints are just ways of God and ways to God to appreciate His beauty. So, what is beauty? Pope

Benedict XVI provides us with something different from our concept of beauty whose reflection

was largely borrowed from St. Thomas Aquinas. He described beauty in three facets: integrity,

proportion, and clarity, or luminosity.36 And for these reasons the way of beauty is a happy path

to mission.

5. DABAR (‫)דָּ בָּ ר‬: The Creative Word

Creation is the first mission of God. It is the face of this beautiful God who cannot not to

express himself in his works. Creation is not only done orderly by God by highly lovely and

breathtaking. The contemplation of the beauties of creation causes an interior peace and sharpens

the sense of harmony and the desire for a beautiful life.37 Catholic theology, as well as Jewish and

Muslim theology, in company with Christian theology in general, maintains that creation is a free

act of God’s love and is in no way something that God compelled to bring about.38 This creation

of God is the Word of God and therefore the mission of God. And so, this is what we call the

Creative Mission of God.

35
Ibid, 2.
36
Ibid, 3.
37
Roman Curia, “Concluding Document of The Plenary Assembly.”
38
Frederick Bauerschmidt and James Buckley, Catholic Theology: An Introduction.

15
 Specifically, Catholics claim in the Nicene Creed that God is the “maker of heaven and

earth, of all things visible and invisible” is grounded in Scripture as this has been read and reflected

upon down through the centuries in the community of the Church.39 We might say that scripture

speaks of creation not only in the past tense, but also in the present. Creation is sustained by an

unyielding act of love.40 Thus, creation is recreating because it is creative mission of God.

Because God has blessed all of creation with radical goodness, God can be found, at least

potentially, through any created beautiful thing. Of course, in actual practice there are certain

places, times, and objects that are set aside as “sacred” in our Christian tradition, but this is not

because they are by nature different from other creatures, but because by God’s creative mission

they give us a foretaste of and point us toward the consummation of God’s creative work, in which

God will be “all in all”41

Missiology sees God as the free creator of the world, the one who calls all things into existence

in an act of love. God is no less good and no less God if God is not creator. This means, that the

world is completely and utterly unnecessary; if God had not created the universe, God would

remain undiminished in power, wisdom, and goodness.42 However, because of his mission, that is

to invite the all created things into the life of the Trinity, He created all that is beautiful.

39
Ibid.
40
Ibid., 69.
41
Ibid., 72-73.
42
Ibid., 74.

16
 6. Man and His Dialogue with the Word

The human person is the subject of mission. He is the reason why the Almighty God set for

mission- to bring back man to him and have personal relationship with him. To do this, God sent

His first missionary His Son to tell the world of His great love for humanity. Jesus did not only

come into the world as a stranger but he became one of us in all sense except sin. And thus, Jesus

is the messenger of the Good News to humanity at the same time he represents the whole of the

human race.

And this why the Church’s profession of faith is first, not concerned with an abstract and distant

God, rather it is a faith on the loving Abba of Jesus Christ who is personal and true. Second, the

question of God is therefore inseparable from the question of Christ.43 In the Biblical times, the

first followers of Jesus recorded in the Acts of the Apostles proclaims that Jesus is the Messiah,

or, as the Greek would say, that he is the Christ. It thus proclaims that Jesus of Nazareth is the

fulfillment of the messianic expectation of the Old Testament and the eschatological bringer of

salvation.44

In the whole drama of missionary endeavor of Jesus of Nazareth, humanity was not anymore,

a passive recipient of mission but an active collaborator of mission with the Trinity for our

salvation. And soon after the death and resurrection of Jesus, the early followers of faith were

already proclaiming Him as a Son of God. And that he is in the form of God, the Son whom God

had sent into the world.45 For Paul, the message about the Son of God is the central content of his

43
Walter Kasper, The God of Jesus Christ (New York: T&T Clark International, 2012), 159.
44
Ibid., 172.
45
Ibid.

17
mission. Finally, in the Prologue of the gospel John sums up the New Testament profession of

faith by proclaiming Jesus Christ as the Word of God who in the very beginning is with God and

in fact is God.46 The mystery of Incarnation is a missionary process of Jesus to reach out to

humanity because man in his very nature is beloved by the Trinity.

7. Mary and Magnificat: Her Mission as the Bearer of the Word

The annunciation story in the gospel of Luke is not about acquiescence but about

empowerment. It is about a young woman in a patriarchal society carrying and bringing her child

into the world.47 Luke found it fitting to attribute the Magnificat to Mary because she provided a

compelling model of discipleship for his community. He portrays her as a woman of action.48 She

was open to salvation and responded to it.49 Thus, being presented as the first to hear the gospel.50

Mary is the all beautiful creature and the highest of perfection for she is the masterpiece of the

Trinity. Her life is a testament that human person is capable of collaborating with the Trinity in

mission. The sacred writings of the Old and New Testaments, as well as the tradition of the Church

show the role of the Mother of the Savior in the mission of salvation in an ever-clearer light and

call our attention to it.51 The books of the Old Testament describe the history of salvation, by which

the coming of Christ into the world was slowly prepared. She is the virgin who shall conceive and

46
Ibid.
47
Kathleen Coyle, Mary in the Christian Tradition: From a Contemporary Perspective (Quezon City:
Claretian Publications, 2006), 11.
48
Ibid, 13.
49
Ibid, 15.
50
Ibid, 26.
51
Frederick Bauerschmidt and James Buckley, Catholic Theology: An Introduction (UK: Wiley Blackwell,
2017), 190.

18
bear a son, whose name shall be called Emmanuel (cf. Is 8:14; Mic 5:2-3; Mt 1:22-23). She stands

out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from

him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the mission of salvation is

established, when the Son of God has taken human nature from her, that he might in the mysteries

of his flesh free man from sin.

She is the first human missionary because of her fiat to the plan of God. She is hailed by the

angel "full of grace" (cf. Lk 1:38), and to the heavenly messenger she replies: "Behold the

handmaid of the Lord, be it done unto me according to thy word" (Lk 1:38). And so therefore,

Mary assumed as the Mother of God or God Bearer (Theotokos)52 Thus, the new Eve, Mary,

consenting to the mission of God. She became the Mother of Jesus.

This union of the mother with the Son in the mission of salvation is made manifest from the

time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death. Moreover, the Immaculate Virgin preserved

free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory,53

And so, the mission of the Blessed Virgin as Mother of God is directly associated with the

mission of the incarnation of the Divine Word. She has no mission but only to collaborate to the

great mission of the Trinity.

52
Frederick Bauerschmidt and James Buckley, Catholic Theology: An Introduction, 192.
53
Ibid,195.

19
 8. The Missionary Church: Dialogue and Proclamation

There are two ways in which John Paul II expand the notion of mission as a missionary

Church in the encyclical Redemptoris Missio- Proclamation and Dialogue. At a press conference

given soon after the publication of the encyclical, Josef Cardinal Tomko, then the Prefect of the

Congregation of the Evangelization of Peoples, explained that one of the chief reasons for the

pope’s writing RM was to correct a Christology being developed by some theologians that tended

to obscure Christian belief that Jesus was indeed the unique and universal savior of humanity.54

While the pope holds fast to the Church’s traditional teaching, clearly articulated at Vatical II,

that people have the possibility to be saved outside of explicit faith in Christ,55 his position also

reflects the Council’s teaching that, nevertheless, all grace comes through Christ, and Christ alone.

“No one, therefore, can enter into communion with God except through Christ, by the working of

the Holy Spirit. Christ’s one, universal mediation, far from being an obstacle on the journey toward

God, is the way established by God himself, a fact of which Christ is fully aware.”56

However, the pope insists that dialogue with other faiths is perfectly consistent with the

church’s obligation to proclaim Christ as universal savior to all peoples.57 While the aim of

dialogue is to discover in other religions that ray of truth that enlightens all peoples, each dialogue

partner needs to be a person of full conviction in her or his faith. Even though Christians are called

54
Josef Cardinal Tomko, “Proclaiming Christ the World’s Only Savior,” L’Osservatore Romano (April 15,
1991): 4.
55
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 10.
56
Ibid.
57
Stephen Bevans, Church Teaching on Mission: Ad Gentes, Evangelii Nuntiandi, Redemptoris Missio
and Dialogue and Proclamation (Class notes, DWST, Tagaytay City, 2014). PDF format.

20
to dialogue, they must always keep in mind the uniqueness of Christ and that “the Church is the

ordinary means of salvation and that she alone possesses the fullness of the means of salvation.”58

Mission, therefore, cannot be reduced to dialogue, as if all religions are of equal value. But he also

subtly argued that dialogue is not something we can dispense with when we preach the riches of

Christ.59

In the Nicene Creed, we profess, "We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church":

these are the four marks of the Church. They are inseparable and intrinsically linked to each other.

Through the continued guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church fulfills these indelible marks.

Moreover, beyond the marks of the Church is her identity. Ad Gentes Divinitus, Vatican II’s

Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church approved by the Council Fathers in December 7,

1965, a remarkable document on mission, speaks of the very identity of the Church. Under the

leadership of SVD Superior General Johannes Schutte and with the main authorship of theologians

Yves Congar, Joseph Ratzinger, and Karl Rahner, the Council Fathers professed that the “The

pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature since it is from the mission of the Son and the

mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the

Father.”60

What does it mean? That the Church is rooted in the mission of the Trinity. In the paragraph 2

of Ad Gentes, it is visibly stated that the Church has no mission but is only participating on the

mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Though baptism we participate in the very life of the

Trinity, therefore, makes all us “missionary by its very nature.”

58
Ibid.
59
Ibid.
60
Vatican Archives, “Ad Gentes, 2.

21
 This is an essential statement from the Council Fathers. Why? Because first, it derived a

point that mission is not only an activity of the Church but the very nature of the Church. We are

not only “doing” mission, but we are “being” in a mission. Yes, we have our missionary activity

but “this activity derives its reason from the will of God, ‘who wishes all men to be saved and to

come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,

Himself a man, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself as a ransom for all’ (1 Tim. 2:45).”61

Second, the missionaries are not only individuals who are appointed for foreign mission

but all of us are missionaries because the entire church is missionary. 62 It is something all

Christians, through the virtue of baptism, are called to.

Third, since mission comes from the mission of the Trinity, what we have is grace. And so

therefore, we claim nothing on our effort as a Church to evangelize but to thank God rather for the

grace to participate on the mission of the Trinity. Furthermore, it implies that we do not own the

Gospel but we are only entrusted and so expected to share it to other peoples and cultures. Thus,

we have no “missions” only “the mission” of the Trinity.

Lastly, John Paul II in Redemptoris Missio wrote “the first beneficiary of salvation is the

Church. Christ won the Church for himself at the price of his own blood and made the Church his

co-worker in the salvation of the world. Indeed, Christ dwells within the Church. She is his Bride.

It is he who causes her to grow. He carries out his mission through her.63

61
Ibid, 7.
62
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 26.
63
John Paul II, Encyclical Letter Redemptoris Missio, 9.

22
 9. Mission as Eucharistic Preaching

Ad Gentes states that ‘missionary activity is nothing else and nothing less than an epiphany, or

a manifesting of God's decree, and its fulfillment in the world and in world history, in the course

of which God, by means of mission, manifestly works out the history of salvation. By the preaching

of the word and by the celebration of the sacraments, the center and summit of which is the most

holy Eucharist, He brings about the presence of Christ, the author of salvation.64

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also affirmed that ‘the Eucharist is the source and

summit of Christian life.’65 It is the union of humanity with the Trinity in the paschal feast of the

Word. It is therefore the summit of mission of the Trinity. It is the transforming encounter with

the Lord in his word and in his life-giving sacrifice of himself- that we may have life and have it

to the full (cf.Jn.10:10).

Eucharist in the context of mission is RENEWAL. It would be a renewal of three important

realities. These are Identity of the Word, Encounter with the Word and Commitment with the

Word.

A. Identity of the Word.

Eucharist is the identity of the Word in heaven and on earth. And so, it is a renewal of our

identity of who we are in reference to the Word. Moreover, it is a renewal of our identity as

Eucharistified people of God. And the mission of the Church is to work for the Kingdom of heaven,

and part of mission is building schools and hospitals, even bridges and streets for humanity and

64
Ibid, 9.
65
Catechism of the Catholic Church no.1324.

23
any more, particularly. However, beyond all these works, is our identity of being Eucharistic

people of the Word who was chosen by Him as the new Jerusalem through the covenant of the

Eucharist.

B. Encounter with the Word.

Eucharist is a renewal of God’s missionary encounter with humanity which entails intimate

relationship with Jesus the Divine Word in the breaking of the bread. The highpoint of our

Christian life is not our missionary work but our missionary encounter with the real presence of

Word in the Eucharist. In this, we become the Eucharist in itself- blessed, broken and shared!

C. Commitment with the Word.

Eucharist is indeed a renewal of commitment in the mission of the Word. That is why it is

called commission. It is a commitment to share Word in the Eucharist to all peoples through

dialogue of cultures. It is a commitment that is rooted in the mission of God to bring His love to

humanity in whatever circumstances.

10. The Divine Word Missionaries (SVD)

The Word became flesh (John 1:4) in Jesus of Nazareth to reveal to the humanity the

unending love of the Father and to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven. Peter Mchugh in his book

‘The Spirituality of our Society’ states that ‘Jesus is the Word not only as the full expression of

the Father’s revelation, but also as the expression of man’s response to this word of invitation by

24
the Father. He is simultaneously the Word spoken and the Word of reply.’66 This is in the mind of

our founder St. Arnold Janssen (1837-1909) when he established St. Michael’s Mission House in

Steyl in September 8, 1875 and envisioned that as brothers, we shall proclaim the fullness of

revelation in Jesus Christ. This vision of the founder is so vibrant that it eventually developed into

a missionary community in which we believe that by “God’s loving grace has gathered us from

various peoples and continents into a religious missionary community dedicated to the Divine

Word and named after him the Society of the Divine Word.”67 And so, we are ‘a community

sharing in the mission of the Divine Word.’68

And thus, “we are to proclaim the gospel so that all peoples may walk in the way of

salvation, freed from the darkness of sin by the light of the Word and the Spirit of grace. Missionary

work is therefore, the end and aim of our Society.”69

We the Divine Word Missionaries are not only doing the Mission but also living the

Mission. A missionary is nothing if he only relies on his capacity of doing mission. One has to

offer himself and consecrate his missionary endeavor to the Divine Word as the epitome of being

in the mission with the Father. The heart of Jesus beats with the Father, our hearts must also beat

in the rhythm of the God of the Mission. Moreover, we, in the Society believe that “God is Mission.

Not that God has a Mission, but that God is Mission. This is what God is in God’s deepest self:

self-diffusive love, freely creating, redeeming, healing, challenging that creation.”70 Therefore,

66
Peter Mchugh, The Spirituality of our Society: A Theological Appreciation (Manila: SVD Phil., 1975),
64.
67
Prologue, The Constitutions of the Society of the Divine Word.
68
SVD Constitutions, 3.
69
Ibid,11.
70
Stephen Bevans and Roger Schroeder, Prophetic Dialogue: Reflections on Christian Missionary Today
(Manila: Logos Publication, Inc., 2012), 10.

25
SVDs working in parishes and in other apostolate areas today, are deeply convinced that what we

are doing is not our mission but God’s mission, in fact, God’s expression of Himself as Mission.

This was very clear to the founder and to every member of the Society. In fact, Ad Gentes, Vatican

II’s Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church approved by the Council Fathers in December

7, 1965, is highly influenced by this character. Under the leadership of SVD Superior General

Johannes Schutte and with the main authorship of theologians Yves Congar, Joseph Ratzinger, and

Karl Rahner, we professed that the “Church is missionary by her very nature.”71 That, the Church

has no mission but Mission as a Church because, ultimately, the Church is rooted in the Missio

Dei. This is very clear in our life and works, when it seemed the condition is so desperate, we

remain optimistic and positive because mission is God’s.

71
Ad Gentes, 2.

26
 IV. Conclusion

Mission was born from the command of the Risen Christ and in the longing of the apostles

to Christ Himself, they went to the ends of the world preaching the Good News. The event and

message of the resurrected Christ is too huge to bear. It was too beautiful not to share. Mission

was born in the midst of joy and jubilation that their Master is alive and has a message of hope to

the Jews and eventually to the Gentiles.

However, as we dig deeper to the nature of mission. We come to realize that mission was

not started by the followers of the Master but by the Master himself. Resurrection is the fulfillment

of Jesus’ earthly mission and the completion of his work to redeem humanity out of love. This

divine love is the very reason of God’s initiative of reaching out to humanity because God in its

very nature is Love. And so, we come to the position that Love is the alpha and omega of mission.

Love impels us to do mission and being in mission. According to Fr. Antonio Pernia72, Mission is

the overflowing love of the Trinity. The private love of the Trinity to each other is so full that it

overflows to humanity.73 And this overflowing is called Missio Trinitatis. Furthermore, since it

was too beautiful not to share, the whole of humanity is now called to participate in the mission of

the Trinity and so we could bring the whole creation back to the bosom of God as to complete the

cycle of mission.

In our participation in the mission of God, He offered many ways including the way of

reason (Via Rationis) and way of beauty (Via Pulchritudinis). The way of reason is when we do

72
Fr. Antonio Pernia is the 10th Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word (SVD), and currently the
Dean of the Divine Word Institute of Mission Studies (DWIMS), Tagaytay City, and one of the professors in the Divine
Word Seminary Tagaytay, Tagaytay City.
73
Tony Pernia, “Missionary Spirituality”, (Lecture, DWST, Tagaytay City, Dec. 2017).

27
mission according to our intellect. It’s how we encounter love through reason. Furthermore, the

way of beauty is how we do mission through our encounter with the beauty of God in creation, in

human person, in the Church, and in every culture and tradition. These two ways are indispensable

in participating in the mission of the Trinity and in returning to the God of mission.

28
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