Catholic Mission People and Ministries in the Catholic Church

Introduction One thing we all like is to belong in some way or another to a family. Families may take different forms, but it is love that makes a family. That is why Jesus asks us to love one another the way that he has loved us (John 13:34). Our family should have no limit. God dreams for us to all be one family with one loving Father, even a world family. Creating a world family is the task Jesus left for us. It is our mission. In other words, mission means building happy families so everyone can understand God’s love for them. Mission means loving and caring for each other, caring for creation and caring for our world, and making one world family. It is easy for us to get information about how our sisters and brothers around the world live. We also understand how our life and our choices affect them. Therefore it is important that we make the right choices to act to help everyone of our global family so that everyone can live life in all its fullness as Jesus wanted. In this worksheet are true stories of young people who have had a tough life and who are working towards making life better for everyone.

Where a roof over your head means the difference between living and dying. “Being homeless is all the same, whether you’re in Australia or Thailand”. Liam 12, Sydney.

Our Mission To achieve Life for all in the work of Global Mission The Son of God came that we may have life and have it abundantly. Catholic Mission sharing in the mission of the church in the world enthusiastically commits itself to carrying on the unfinished mission of Jesus as its own mission. As did Jesus, Catholic Mission is sent to: * bring good news to the poor, * proclaim release to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, * let the oppressed go free, * proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour (Lk 4: 18). Catholic Mission understands this mission of Evangelisation to be: 1. the inauguration of the Reign of God in the person of Jesus Christ 2. and the proclamation of the Good News.

The Good News is proclaimed most powerfully in selfless acts of love. By these acts, Christians are both signs and revelations of Christ. “This witness is the first and irreplaceable form of mission.” The Reign of God is fully realised when the necessary conditions are created which ensure equality and respect for the dignity of all persons, and a guarantee of human rights as the values reigning supreme in the world. This ideal only becomes reality when we place the intrinsic value of the human person at the centre of our lives and our societies, and encourage the living out of the Gospel values in service of the person. This mission of bringing good news in all its forms (proclamation of the Word, witness, dialogue, justice making, denouncing injustice, repentance, the putting on and revealing Christ) is inclusive of all peoples. It excludes no one. Catholic Mission is not afraid of acting contrary to popular opinion where the dignity of the person is at risk, to protect the innocent, the powerless and exploited, that is the anawim of our planet, and will stand in solidarity with the weak and the suffering. Catholic Mission also works with the exploited and marginalised to empower, enable and ennoble them to reclaim their rightful participation and inclusion in the human family.

Select one of the following countries to base your research on:  Philippines  Thailand  Tanzania  Bangladesh  Fiji

Using the country you have selected, write a 150 word paragraph describing a person who has experienced living in poor conditions. You may wish to include: – Descriptions of their living environment – Descriptions of their day-to-day requirements to survive – Quotes

Using the country you have selected, write a 150 word paragraph describing a person who has experienced living in poor conditions.

Reflect upon the life of the people from your selected country Describe in 150 words how you would survive on the street (in your selected country ) for one day. Think about: Where exactly do you live? How do you get money? What do you use the money for? How do people treat you (consider your appearance and that you may have a disease)? Where do you put your things? Where do you wash? Do you go to school? How do you feel?

Reflect upon the life of the people from your selected country

Create a collage of film or images which identify the variety of functions Catholic ministries play to assist those in your selected country.

Images and Film Attachments

Attach quotes explaining the benefits of those who have received assistance from Catholic ministries

Hope for a new life Investigate a story about how missionaries have allowed others to have a ‘new life’ and describe why they choose to assist others. 200 words

Hope for a new life

Outline how missionaries help to support communities You are required to include specific examples of the duties Catholic missionaries have performed to support communities. This question may be answered in dot point form over at least two [2] slides, size font.

Personal reflection Someone once said, “Often the difference between life and death is simply the luck of where you were born.” You are required to respond to this statement in 150 words. Use the following questions to guide your reflection: Do you agree with this statement? How does it apply to the lives of those you have researched? Do you agree with Liam’s statement on slide 3? Being homeless is all the same, whether you’re in Australia or Thailand”. Liam 12, Sydney. Why or why not?

Outline how missionaries help to support communities

Gospel Reflection Our mission is to build family and include everyone as Jesus did. Read this story from the Gospel of St Mark 2:13-17 on the following slide. But first we need to understand the work of tax collectors. The tax collectors worked for the Romans who were foreigners. The tax collectors collected money from the Jewish people and passed it to the occupying foreign army of the Romans. For this reason the tax collectors were despised and rejected and called sinners.

Jesus went out again beside the sea. The whole crowd gathered around him and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi, son of Alphaeus, sitting at the tax collector’s booth and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him. As Jesus sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples – for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Gospel Reflection: Mark 2:13-17

Reflection on what Jesus teaches us 1. Explain why the village didn’t like tax collectors or the other sick and poor people? 2. How would you define in your own words the term ‘outcast’? 3. Explain why were the Scribes and the Pharisees so angry that Jesus was eating dinner with the tax collectors and other people who had been outcast from the village? 4. Explain why Jesus chose Levi and asked him to follow him? 5. Explain why Jesus shared a meal with Levi, the other tax collectors and people who had been outcast from the village? 6. List examples of the people we reject and treat as outcasts in our society? 7. Describe how can we include others more in our own lives?

Reflection on what Jesus teaches us

Website resources  Child Rights Information Network:  Jubilee Debt Campaign:  Global Call to Action Against Poverty:  Make Poverty History Campaign:  Millennium Development Goals for the United Nations:  Catholic Mission: