Table of Contents

Introduction ………………………………………………………………………......2

1. The concept of the Kingdom of God ………………………………………….…… 4

2. The Concept of the Mission of the Church………………………………….……… 5

2.1. The Church as a Sign of God’s Kingdom……………………………………….. 6

2.2. Church as a Witness to God’s Kingdom………………………………………… 7

2.3. Eucharist and the Kingdom of God in the Mission of the Church…………..…... 7
2.3.1. Eucharist and Unity with the People: The pattern of the Mission …..…...…. 8
2.4. The Church’s Mission as the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God ………..…... 9

Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………...11

1
Introduction

The Church’s mission is deeply rooted in the mystery of the Holy Trinity; it is the
continuation of God’s loving plan of salvation of mankind which the Father revealed in
time and in history through the mission of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The second
Vatican council would emphasis this aspect of mission in a clear way; “As the father has
sent me, so I am sending you” (Jn 20:2). The little adverb “as” in the above sentence is
the most powerful of adverbs in the world. Its power was felt once again when the
second Vatican council declared that the pilgrim church is missionary by her very nature
and that her being sent has its source in the Holy Trinity. 1 Jesus Christ gave His
Church—this body of spiritually transformed believers—a responsibility to carry out, the
mission to proclaim the good news. The mission is nothing but what Christ preached.
That is to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and make disciples throughout the
world, teaching them exactly what Jesus taught (Mark 16:15; Matthew 24:14; Matthew
28:19-20). The mission is from the heart of Christ to the end of the world.

This assignment is a humble effort to present how the church proceeds from
Christ, with mission of proclaiming the Kingdom of God. It is not only that the Church
proceeds with a mission in a systematic way but also it has to be in a witnessing and
authentic manner. The mission style of Christ and the disciples become the style of the
mission of the Church too. In this way the mission will be so effective in the world. As it
is a very short study due to the limitation of the space and time, it can be further studied.

1
Jose Puthenpurackal, Mission in the documents of the catholic church (Shillong: Vendrame
Institute, 1997), 1.

2
1. The concept of ‘Your Kingdom come’

In the Lord’s Prayer ‘The Kingdom of God” is the central theme of Jesus in his
mission. And also the Kingdom of God comes as a main theme in his parables and
actions of Jesus. The parables often began with the words, “The Kingdom of God is as
if….” The main theme of his teaching was “the Kingdom of God as near” (Mk 1:15, Mt
3:2, 4:17). 2 The Good NewsJesus Christ preached was about the Kingdom of God’s
basileia. Now what is the meaning of the Kingdom of God? It does not mean
“Kingdom” (a territory ruled by a king) but it means “The Lord reigns” (Ps 93:1, 94:3,
96:10, 97:1, 99:1: Is 52:7). “The kingdom of God refers to an action: ‘God is ruling
powerfully as King. The symbol is primarily dynamic rather than spatial-kingly rule
rather than Kingdom as territory. Therefore the basileia is not primarily a human utopia,
a social-political ideal nor even a set of “values”. It is not essentially a human
construction. It is basically an action of God coming with his sovereign power and
saving concern.3

Primarily Kingdom of God would mean God’s eschatological activity as ruler,

the eschatological coming of God in Christ Jesus to save, to forgive, to reconcile, to
renew, and to gather in.4 it is not only related to an eschatological event but also it has an
aspect of here and now. That is already yet not come. Its fullness was still unrealized and
its arrival, conceived partially as a judgment, would mark the end or transformation of
the world, a perfect state of things in which God’s will would be perfectly fulfilled.5 It
can be further explained well. “It is in the last days” (Acts 2:17, Heb 1:2, 1pet 1:5) God
is coming to bring down the reign of the evil one and to set things right in his loving
rule. The eschatological coming of the Kingdom of God is not only a matter of
chronology (end of times”) but also of what basileia means. The eschatological coming
of the Kingdom of God in his rule has begun with the Messianic advent of Jesus Christ
and the gift of the Holy Spirit. The rule of God is at hand (Mk 1:15 Mt 4:17, 12:28). It is
eschatology in the process of realization, characterized as being “already” and “not yet”.
What does it mean? It is clear with the example of a biblical image “the fields are

2
G. Gispert-Sauch, “Thy Kingdom Come,”THE DIVINE SHEPHERD’S VOICE 4 (2006): 35.
3
Lucien Legrand, “Good News, Kingdom, and Conversion,” ISHVANI DOCUMENTATION
AND MISSION DIGEST 3 (1999): 328.
4
Emidio Campi, “Your kingdom Come: A Missionary Perspective,” YOUR KINGDOM COME:
MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 28
5
Assisi Saldanha, ed,. The Lord’s Prayer and its Emerging Concerns (Bangalore: Asian Trading
Corporation, 2008), 54-55

3
already white for the harvest” (Jn 4:35). Yet the harvest is just to begin (Mt 9:37).6
Having understood what actually the Kingdom of God is meant, now it is the Church’s
turn to prepare the people for God’s kingdom here and now and also for the
eschatological of Christ. Church of Jesus Christ has a particular mission of disclosing
revelation of the Kingdom of God in Jesus Christ. Ultimately the holy Catholic Church
in her mission prepares the children of God to the eschatological realization of the
Kingdom of God. The particular and the universal Church commit themselves to this
mission. It is also the prayer of the Church in the mission to prepare the way for God’s
Kingdom.

2. The Concept of the Mission of the Church

Ignatius of Loyola was the first one who introduced the term “Mission” in the
16th century. Later Jose’ de Acosta S.J. came and said about the meaning of the mission:
for him mission meant “expeditions and voyages” undertaken for the spread of the
gospel. The mission was oriented towards everyone: it is not just one of the activities of
the Church carried out by the so-called missionaries but it is the duty of all who call
themselves “Christian”. And there is a special responsibility for those are in the Church
who are called “to be with Lord” and “to be sent out”.7

Mission is a response to a divine call addressed to a people. The purpose of god’s

call is for the formation of God’s people. It is more than a call to the service of the true
God. It is intent to integrate human beings into the people of God.8 So the missionaries
in the Church are called to this divine plan to form the human beings as the people of
God. For the Church’s nature is its mission. The Church exists by mission as fire by
burning. She exactly represents the person of Christ in her mission. She does all that
Christ did and Christ wanted to do. The Church is commissioned to go into the entire
world and preach the gospel to all nations just as Jesus was sent to the world to proclaim
the Good Newsof God’s Kingdom. 9 He appeared in Galilee proclaiming the Good
Newsof God: “the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God has come near; repent and
believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). The Church proclaims the same in her mission.

6
Legrand, “Good News, Kingdom, and Conversion,” 328- 329.
7
Puthenpurakal, Mission in the Documents of the Catholic Church, 2-,5.
8
Lucien Legrand, Mission in the Bible: Unity and Plurality, (Bangalore: Theological Publication
in India, 2016), 30-31.
9
Henry C. Lefever, Christ and the Church’s mission, (Mysore: The Christian Literature Society,
1954), 26.

4
 How the Church is entrusted with the mission of proclaiming the good news?
Here we understand the continuity of Jesus mission through the disciples in the Church.
The Church is entrusted with the mission because Jesus’ mission was in a limited
geography of the Israel. So he realizes that he cannot answer directly all the needs of the
people and tells the disciples to pray the father for laborers in his vineyard (Mt. 8, 36-
38). And he immediately gathers his disciples and sends them out to do the same things
he was doing. He begins to from a community which will endeavor to respond to the
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needs of the people. The Disciples of Christ being chosen and being sent out is
continued in the Church; so Church as a whole becomes His instrument to spread the
good news.

2.1The Church’s Mission as a Sign of the Kingdom of God

Jesus proclaimed the Good Newsof the Kingdom of God in his earthly mission
(Mark 1:15). And we know it is the turn of the Church to continue this mission. In order
to continue this mission of Christ so effectively the Holy Catholic Church should
functions as the sign of the Kingdom of God. In order to function as a sign of the
Kingdom the Church has to be situated at the level of hope. For this, the Church has to
be according to God’s plan and design, the Church has to be holy and a real sign of the
Kingdom of God. The Church is holy and the real sign of the Kingdom of God not
because of the personal moral virtue of Church members and their priests; but the
Church is holy by virtue of its bond with Christ, and by this alone. But other than this,
the awareness of Church being as the sign of the Kingdom must be given to the people,
for that the members of the Church should be after the life of Christ. The clergy in their
teaching must share the problems and the sufferings of the people and there should be an
existential contact. So that the people who are coming to the Church will feel accepted.
When the people enter into the Church they dare to be just themselves. That will be their
zone of light where they will come to contact with Jesus, the advocate, healer, and the
savior who intercedes for them in front of the father. This image of the Church is very
important to be as a sign of the Kingdom to sustain the people and protect them against

10
A. Nicolas, “Gospel and Society: a Dimension that Enriches our Reading of the Bible”, JMB
121

5
giving up their trust in their crisis.11 To be the sign of Gods kingdom is a goal to be
achieved then it will be easy for the Church to continue the mission of Christ.

2.2 Church’s Mission as a Witness to God’s Kingdom

Another aspect to make the mission effective is that the Church has to witness
herself to the Kingdom of God. For that she has to live the life of the Kingdom which
reflects the nature of God. It must expose itself the very reality of God. The Church must
accept the God whom all humans cry so that the people can find the Lord in the Church
in a special way and get consoled. When Christ used the term ‘Kingdom of God’ he was
taking into account the need and the cry of the poor humanity for food and justice and
the cry of the diseased and the possessed for healing, the cry for the woman for dignity
and value and the cry of the outsiders for acceptance. He never denied that the Kingdom
he was talking about was the Kingdom of their dream. The Church has to witness this
Christ before the people to give a better experience of the Kingdom of God.12

We know that “Thy Kingdom come” is also the prayer of the poor in a very
special way. Both St. Matthew and St. Luke open the beatitudes by making Jesus
promise “The Kingdom of God” precisely to the poor ( Mt 5:3, Lk 6:20), and in the
seventh beatitude Matthew also records that it is promised to “those who are persecuted
for righteousness sake” (Mt 5:10). The prayer ‘Thy Kingdom come’ is therefore the
specific prayer of the poor who depend on the Lord in the moments of crisis.13 And this
was the very mission of Christ, (Luke 4:18, 19). Christ is a perfect example of being
witness to the kingdom of God of the poor. He walked along with the poor ministering to
their needs. Therefore Church in her mission should never disengage herself from the
dusty struggles and ambiguous aspirations of humanity in her mission.

2.3 Eucharist and God’s Kingdom in the Mission of the Church

Word and sacrament is the centrality of all the activities of the Church. Eucharist
being the sacraments of all sacraments gives an experience of God’s reign to the people.
In the Eucharist the spoken word is having the sacramental quality empowered by the
Holy Spirit to make them effective and loving to touch the hearts of the hearers.

11
Halina Bortnowska, “The Church-sign of the kingdom,” YOUR KINGDOM COME: MISSION
PERSPECTIVE (1980): 151-153
12
John V. Taylor, “The Church’s Witnesses to the Kingdom,” YOUR KINGDOM COME:
MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 134
13
Sauch, “Thy Kingdom Come,” 34.

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Eucharist is also God’s word which speaks freshly each day of sacrifice and victory. We
believe that our Church holds together these two aspects of Christian sharing so that we
may avoid both the excessive intellectualism of some preaching traditions and the
excessive ritualism of some who have focused entirely on the Eucharist. 14 This will
enable the Church to be union with Christ and his people in the field of mission.

2.3.1 Eucharist and unity with people: The pattern of the mission

Now what is the way of the Church in her mission to proclaim the Good Newsto
the people? That is the way of the cross and resurrection: the Eucharist. She has to be the
living witness of the cross and resurrection. This mission pattern is clear in the lives of
the disciples.15 Christ sharing the body and blood of Christ with his disciple was the
symbol of his invitation for his disciples in the vocation to be the part of his suffering.
But the disciples were not willing to do the baptism he was going to do and the cup he
was going to drink. They lacked the unity with Christ in his suffering. Yet on the very
night of betrayal Christ offered the powerful unity with his disciples to be with him in
sacrificial love. Here we understand that the Koinonia of the Church is nothing less than
the most literal partaking in the sufferings and the resurrection of Christ and when
Church endures sufferings in the mission, the Kingdom of God is open to others too
through the powerful inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is easy to be union with the people
if Church is really in union with Christ: this union is easily achieved through the
sacrament of Holy Eucharist. This is abiding ground of the missionary activity of the
Church. For trials and hardships prepare us fit for the Kingdom and it is for the sake of
this that you are suffering (2Thes 1:5). Luke in the acts speaks about the trials that Paul
the apostle had to undergo at Iconium which strengthened the faithful there.16 So trials or
the cross is essential in the mission to increase the faith of the people. The Koinonia and
mission of the apostolic Church were centered on the death and resurrection of Christ. So
the Church has to commit herself to the pattern of cross and resurrection. And if the
Church uses any other pattern to preach the Kingdom of God, we are not then preaching
the Gospel of Christ and witnessing the real kingdom.17

14
Kosuka Koyama, “The Crucified Christ Challenges Human Power,” YOUR KINGDOM
COME: MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 203-204
15
Koyama, “The Crucified Christ Challenges Human Power,” 204-205.
16
Devdat, “Thy Kingdomcome!,” PROCLAMATION 48 (2010): 230.
17
Your Kingdomcome, mission perspective 134,135.136

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2.4 The Church’s mission as the Proclamation of the Kingdom of God

Jesus is the founder and the establisher of the kingdom of God. It was reflected in
his mission. The core of Jesus mission is that the announcement of Kingdom of God is at
hand, a challenge to repent and an invitation to believe. Jesus begins his mission by the
proclamation of the Kingdom of God, calling people to repentance and faith in the
gospel (Mark 1:14-15). 18 It is the depth and breadth of the mission of Jesus. Jesus’
proclamation of the Good News differs from that of the prophets in the Old Testament.
The message of the prophets was often threatening or announcing salvation for a future
time; but Jesus’ message is that that God’s salvation has come now: “the time is
fulfilled.”19 This salvation of God is made plain as the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus Christ to
us. When the story of Jesus Christ is made plain to us we proclaim Jesus as a teacher,
crucified and risen, truly human and truly divine savior and Lord. And here the church
proclaims Jesus and the kingdom he preached.20

The proclamation of the Good Newsis a continual necessity and all people,
believers and unbelievers are challenged to hear and respond since conversion is never
finished. The Church has a special obligation to those who have never heard the Good
Newsof the kingdom. The proclamation of the Good Newshas to be contextualized in
every culture contrasting the bad news of the specific situation. The proclamation
demands communication in deed and word, in teaching, learning and serving. For the
credibility of the proclamation of the word of God rests upon the authenticity of the total
witness of the Church. For the authentic witness the Christian community has to make its
proclamation both to itself and then to those outside. So that there will be conversion.
This conversion is resulting from the action of the Holy Spirit. It involves turning from
and a turning to. It always implies a transfer to loyalty which means becoming a citizen
of God’s Kingdom through faith in Jesus Christ.21

18
Johannes Weiss, Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God, ed. Richard H Hiers and David L
Holland, (London: SCM Press, 1972) 79.
19
Lucien Legrand, “Jesus’ Mission Vision,” PROCLAMATION 30 (2009): 14.
20
Koyama, “The Crucified Christ Challenges Human Power,” 194-195.
21
Koyama, “The Crucified Christ Challenges Human Power,” 195-196

8
Conclusion

It is very essential to become aware of one’s responsibility of mission after the

person of Christ. In the scripture Jesus entrust his followers to continue the work he
began for the salvation of the world. Scripture teaches us that the mission of the Church,
like that of her Master, is for the salvation of lost sinners. Scripture and history teach us
that when the Kingdom of God is extended and its spiritual life is experienced deeply by
Christians, the impact for good in society is tremendous. The followers of Christ are the
powerful instruments of Christ for the transformation of the rest of the world. Our need
today is not for a greater social conscience, but for a deeper understanding of the Gospel
and its implications, and for the constraining love of Christ, the King, to rule in our
hearts (2 Cor.5.14). We need His hunger for the souls of the lost! We need this spiritual
reality of the Kingdom to burn in our souls so that our lives will be the worthy members
of the kingdom of God to preach the good news. This urge was given to me throughout
the lively lecturing of Rve Fr. Lucien Legrand On the course of “ Biblical Theology of
Mission.”

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Bibliography

Puthenpurackal, Jose. Mission in the documents of the catholic churchI. Shillong:

Vendrame Institute, 1997.

Weiss Johannes. Jesus’ proclamation of the Kingdom of God. Edited by Richard H

Hiers and David L Holland. London: SCM Press, 1972.

Legrand Lucien. Mission in the Bible: Unity and Plurality. Bangalore: Theological
Publication in India, 2016.

Saldanha Assisi, ed. The Lord’s Prayer and its Emerging Concerns. Bangalore: Asian
Trading Corporation, 2008.

Articles

Legrand Lucien. “Good News, Kingdom, and Conversion,” ISHVANI

DOCUMENTATION AND MISSION DIGEST 3 (1999): 327-332.

Devdat. “Thy Kingdomcome!.” IN CHRISTO 48 (2010): 218-237.

Legrand, Lucien. “Jesus’ Mission Vision.” PROCLAMATION 30 (2009): 12-24.

Sauch, G. Gispert. “Thy Kingdom Come.” THE DIVINE SHEPHERD’S VOICE 4

(2006): 33-37.

Campi, Emidio. “Your kingdom Come: A Missionary Perspective.” YOUR KINGDOM

COME: MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 26-36.

Bortnowska, Halina. “The Church-sign of the kingdom.” YOUR KINGDOM COME:

MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 145-156.

V. Taylor John. “The Church’s Witnesses to the Kingdom.” YOUR KINGDOM COME:
MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 133-146.

Koyama, Kosuka. “The Crucified Christ Challenges Human Power.” YOUR KINGDOM
COME: MISSION PERSPECTIVE (1980): 157-208.

10