Commissioning

Sunday's observance of Pentecost celebrates both the birth of the church and our obligation to continue the mission Jesus commissioned us to do with the power of the Holy Spirit.

We read of our mission at the end of the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke when Jesus commissions the disciples to go and tell the good news of salvation to all nations, baptizing and forgiving sins. It is not the first time Jesus commissioned the disciples. Earlier, in these three gospels, Jesus sends out the Twelve to heal the sick and to preach repentance and the good news. In Luke, he also sends 72 other disciples on a similar mission.

But it was one thing to go on a mission like that before Jesus' crucifixion and quite another to do it after his resurrection. So, right before his Ascension, Jesus told his disciples to go to Jerusalem and wait to receive the Holy Spirit (Lk 24:49).

Acts of the Apostles describes how, on Pentecost, they were gathered when the Holy Spirit ignited their faith and drove them from behind locked doors to the town square where they proclaimed their faith. Christianity has been in the public eye since transforming the world and how we think.

Christianity may be the first evangelistic religion. Judaism did not and does not try to win converts. While pagan religions often demanded that conquered peoples worship their gods, they apparently did not conquer people as a way to win believers. Plus, these were forced conversions, not an act of free will based on faith and reason -- the original Christian model.

Sadly, there were times when Christianity was forced on people, much as pagan religions were. Fortunately, those times have ended, and we're back to the model of the early church.

Today, many companies, parishes, families and individuals have "a mission statement" that defines who they are, what they do and why. That whole sense of mission -- from the Latin word, mittere, "to send" -- comes from Christianity.

And how did Jesus send his followers on their mission? By commissioning them. In both Mk 6:7-13 and Lk 10:1-16, when Jesus commissioned his followers, he sent them in pairs. The word commission comes from the Latin committere: to bring together. Thus, they -- and Catholics now and forever -- are sent to work together, to bring people together in the Christian community.

That's what we celebrate on Sunday and what we are to do each day -- in word and action -- in how we live, work and play.