Jesus calls everyone to mission work through baptism, says bishop

Published: 2006-07-07

ARLINGTON, Va. (CNS) -- In baptism Jesus calls everyone to be a missionary, and "we don't need to go to other lands" to do mission work, Filipino Bishop Luis Tagle told a national gathering of Asian and Pacific Catholics July 2. "There are many worlds around us, many worlds even in the same family" that are mission territory, he said. Bishop Tagle of Imus, Philippines, led a workshop on mission and evangelization during the first National Asian and Pacific Catholic Convocation, held June 30-July 3 in the Washington suburb of Arlington. Just as God sent his son, Jesus sends the faithful today to "wherever you find human beings" -- whether the setting is one's own family or the halls of Congress -- to spread the good news that "God rules," he said. The Second Vatican Council expanded the concept of mission from just being about leaving one's own country to serve the church to the notion that mission is also a "day-to-day reality," Bishop Tagle said.

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