Missionary Congress of Colombia: Cardinal Tagle urges us to remain united to Christ in order to be his evangelizers

“Every disciple of Jesus must be a missionary,” was the call made this Friday, July 5, by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle during the inauguration of the 13th National Missionary Congress that is taking place in Bogotá (Colombia) until next Sunday.

The Filipino cardinal, pro-prefect of the section for the first evangelization and the new particular churches of the Dicastery for Evangelization, was in charge of giving the first conference entitled The missio ad gentes in the local Church.

The 13th National Missionary Congress, an event that takes place at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, brings together about 1,200 people from all over the country in person and another 300 virtually.

Organized by the Pontifical Mission Societies, it also aims to commemorate the hundred years of the first congress held in 1924, from which great figures of missionary saints and martyrs emerged, such as Mother Laura – the first Colombian saint -, the Venerable Miguel Ángel Builes, among others.

This Friday, the event was also attended by some 90 bishops, who concluded today the 117th Plenary Assembly of the Episcopate, as well as numerous religious, priests and lay people.

Likewise, the Apostolic Nuncio in Colombia, Mons. Paolo Rudelli, attended; the new president of the Episcopal Conference of Colombia, Mons. Francisco Javier Múnera; the Archbishop of Bogotá, Cardinal Luis José Rueda, among other ecclesiastical authorities.

Remain in Christ to be able to announce him

In his speech delivered in Spanish, Cardinal Luis Tagle recalled that “every disciple of Jesus must be a missionary,” but in order to be an evangelizer, he must always remain united to Christ.

“There is no permanence without exit. These two things are not contradictory,” indicated the cardinal, and pointed out that it is a dynamic that has occurred since the first moments of Jesus’ public life.

To do this, he recalled that Andrés, after knowing Christ, went to his brother Simon to take him to the Lord, “because those who stay with Jesus will look for others to take them to Jesus.”

Likewise, there is the case of the demon-possessed man from Gerasa, who after being freed wanted to stay with Christ, but the Lord sent him to announce the Good News.

In that sense, Cardinal Tagle said that “from these few New Testament examples we learn that mission to other people is rooted in an experience with the Lord, of coming to Him and staying with Him. This gives the impetus to go in search” of others.

“Young people, look for your friends or schoolmates, leading them to Jesus even through the content of social networks that proclaim Jesus. A Christian community or a local Church is the fruit of missionary discipleship,” he stated.

In the midst of darkness, God’s message brings peace

Then followed the celebration of the Holy Mass, led by Cardinal Luis José Rueda Aparicio, Archbishop of Bogotá, who stated in his homily that the National Missionary Congress expresses “the dream of the Church” in Colombia, which wishes to “advance in a concrete way and real in the path proposed by Pope Francis: for a synodal Church, in communion, participation and mission.”

“The Word, the revealed Good News, is the foundation, food and strength of the mission of the Church,” the cardinal recalled, and assured that “in the midst of darkness and suffering, God’s message brings peace and “hope to his people.”

In that sense, he also called Catholics to be at the Lord’s side to be his evangelizers, because “when we discover his presence, that permanent presence that walks alongside the missionary, it takes us out of anguish and fear.”

The 13th National Missionary Congress will culminate on Sunday, July 7 with a Solemn Mass presided over by Cardinal Luis Tagle and the missionary sending.