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Being creative is better than being discouraged by many difficulties, Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay said at Mass last week.
The Gospel is currently calling the Church in Asia – and especially its leaders – to do good in a ‘creative way’ and to continue to work together on the mission of evangelisation.
“We as Church, we as leaders here present, have got to think of creative ways of fulfilling the mission”, Gracias (pictured) said in his World Mission Sunday homily.
Addressing delegates of the ongoing Asian bishops meeting in Thailand, he said: “We are not in the worst situation ever. The apostles were in a worst situation, many countries were in a worst situation.”
The Church’s vitality cannot be measured by numbers and statistics.
“I think we must make clear to ourselves and to the world that we, the Catholic Church, are not in the numbers game, who try to get more than other religions,” Gracias said.
“Our mission is to make Jesus real in the world, the Gospel real, that’s evangelisation. It is not just baptising people.
“In this project, making Asia a better place, making Asia a better Asia, which we have come for, is also evangelisation, is also spreading the word of God, is also doing the will of Christ,” Gracias added.
During his homily, Gracias also called for continued development of the role of lay people in the Church.
All Catholics are called to be “fully part of the Church and not just bishops, priests and religious” he said.
Therefore they also have “the same mission of spreading the Gospel”.
“We want laypeople to help evangelise others. They’re not just a second or tertiary in this work … but are our fullest collaborators,” he said.
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