by Benedetto Labate 

Pope Francis’ message for the 97th World Mission Day bears the title “Hearts on Fire, Feet on the Move”, and takes its cue from the emblematic episode of the two disciples who, disappointed and embittered by the events of the Rabbi of Nazareth, which ended – according to them – with His death in Jerusalem, sadly return to the village of Emmaus, probably the place of their home. Actually, in the content of the Pope’s message there is a third locution that explains and deepens the spiritual journey that these disciples made in the company of the Risen One, who becomes their traveling companion: “eyes opened”!

It is impossible not to recognize, in this itinerary, the metaphor of the life of every Christian who, afflicted by the weight of the daily grind, sometimes more sometimes less overwhelming, runs the risk of abandoning the community, wearied by discouragement, by disenchantment, by the inability to read the signs of the resurrection even in the witness of their brothers and sisters who live next to them. Parishes are daily destinations for people who experience these circumstances. What to do for them? Exactly what Jesus did: approach them, accompany them, listen to them. Without pretense of solutions, without words that stun, but offering them, after the vent, the only Word that saves, the eternal one of the Word who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”

This warms hearts, ignites passion and makes charity burn, which is not consumed because it is nourished by the Lord’s Eucharistic presence. “Their eyes were opened and they recognized him” (Lk 24:31). This is the passage that occurs when, captivated by the Word of God, we eat at the table with Jesus: He breaks the bread and we recognize in this prophetic gesture the gift of His life, on the Cross and in the Bread, for us. Ineffable love of the Creator for His creatures, of the Redeemer for the oppressed, of the Comforter for those who are wounded and bleeding. Here is the healing that demands return. Word that saves, Bread that nourishes, and the human being feels loved. The deep joy of the encounter results in “feet on the move”, to proclaim, to witness, to rejoin and to reach out. Who? Everyone. Our own community, our own friends and family, the distant, the abandoned, the lost, the last, the marginalized. Such and so great is the exultation of the gift that it cannot be contained, the fire cannot be extinguished, and we realize the need for all to know, for all to be approached, conquered, saved.

This is what we experience in parish communities, this is the missionary call of the Church that every baptized person lives and is called to multiply. May the Lord never cause us to lack the outpouring of his Spirit who is the source, the nourishment and the aim of our journey.