Day 269: Our Missionary Witness

Because they are members of the Body whose Head is Christ, Christians contribute to building up the Church by the constancy of their convictions and their moral lives. the Church increases, grows, and develops through the holiness of her faithful, until "we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ." CCC 2045

Today's reading from the Catechism is very short, consisting of just three paragraphs on our missionary witness for Christ and an In Brief that reviews what has been covered over the past few days. The world is watching us, so how we conform to Christ (Rom 8:29) in our daily lives truly matters. We are His ambassadors to the world (2 Cor 5:20), expected to let our "light shine before men" so that through the example of how we live our lives, they may come to "give glory to your Father who is in heaven" (Matt 5:16). We are called to give a defense "for the hope that is in you," yet in charity and respect for others (1 Pet 3:15).

The Catechism Compendium summarizes this as follows:

Because their lives are conformed to the Lord Jesus, Christians draw others to faith in the true God, build up the Church, inform the world with the spirit of the Gospel, and hasten the coming of the Kingdom of God. (#433)

The Catechism Companion Vol III has some good commentary on this:

We are called to be faithful. When we live faithfully, the mission of Christ is accomplished in the world... When we live in such a way that our lives have been transformed, we reveal the power of God. The fact that God is still working on us is a good thing because it reminds us that we still need his grace. We live out missionary witness when we show humility and perseverance and continue to ask the Lord for help in hope, even in the midst of our broken lives... It is not just our own salvation that is at stake. Our yes to the Lord also bears witness to the Lord's power, truth, goodness, and love to the world. The mission of the Church, which is the mission of Jesus Christ, is at stake. (p.54)

Pictured here are Missionaries of Charity religious sisters in Kolkata, India. The Catholic faithful are called to proclaim the Gospel and act with charity as members of the Church in day-to-day life (CCC 2044). (p. 55)