The third and final reflection refers to the recipients of the king’s invitation, “everyone.” As I have stressed, “this is at the heart of the mission, that “everyone”, without excluding anyone. All. Therefore, our entire mission springs from the Heart of Christ, to allow Him to draw everyone to Himself” (Address by the Holy Father Francis to the participants in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission SocietiesJune 3, 2023).
Even today, in a world torn by divisions and conflicts, the Gospel of Christ is the sweet and strong voice that calls men to meet, to recognize each other as brothers and to enjoy harmony in the midst of differences. God wants “everyone to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tm 2,4). Therefore, let us never forget, in our missionary activities, that we are sent to announce the Gospel to all, and “not as one who imposes a new obligation, but as one who shares a joy, points out a beautiful horizon, offers a desirable banquet” ( ap. exhortation the gospel of joy14).
The missionary-disciples of Christ always carry in their hearts concern for all people of any social or even moral condition. The parable of the banquet tells us that, following the king’s recommendation, the servants gathered “everyone they found, bad and good” (Mt 22,10). Furthermore, precisely “the poor, the crippled, the blind and the paralyzed” (Lc 14,21), that is, the last and the marginalized of society are the special guests of the king. Thus, the wedding banquet that God has prepared for the Son remains open to all and forever, because his love for each of us is great and unconditional. “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not die but have eternal life” (Jn 3,16). Whoever, every man and every woman is the recipient of God’s invitation to participate in his grace that he transforms and saves. We only need to say “yes” to this divine and free gift, putting on it as if with a “party dress”, welcoming it and allowing it to transform us (cf. Mt 22,12).
The universal mission requires the commitment of everyone. That is why it is necessary to continue the path towards a completely synodal-missionary Church at the service of the Gospel. Synodality is in itself missionary and, vice versa, mission is always synodal. Therefore, close missionary cooperation is even more urgent and necessary today in the universal Church, as well as in the particular Churches. Following the line of the Second Vatican Council and my predecessors, I recommend to all the dioceses of the world the service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which are the primary means to “instill in Catholics, from childhood, the truly universal and missionary sense, and to effectively collect subsidies for the good of all the missions, according to the needs of each one” (Decr. To nations38).