MISSION AND

MINISTRIES OF THE
CHURCH
Church
• Her very nature is missionary.
• Her mission to proclaim and to establish the Kingdom of God
is clearly expressed when Christ commissioned His apostles.
Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in

the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teach
them to carry out everything I have commanded you. And I
know that I am with you always until the end of the World.
PCP II 104
This mission was not exclusively given to the apostles, but for
all of us, as members of the Church. We are called to participate
in the mission of spreading the Good News of Salvation. We are
all missionaries, and as missionaries, we become instruments of
God’s grace to build up the Church, and to serve the Kingdom
by permeating the world with Gospel values so that finally all
creation may be united in Christ as head.
CFC 1412

Christ founded the Church to continue His saving mission on

earth. “The Church endowed with gifts of her founder, receives
the mission to proclaim and to establish among peoples the
Kingdom of Christ and of God”
This mission is built into her very nature as originating from the
Blessed Trinity, the mission flows from the Church as
“Sacrament of Salvation” the sign and instrument for
achieving ultimate union with God.

Briefly then, the Church has:

a. A mission mandate
b. Whose origin and goal is the Blessed Trinity
c. Motivated by God’s love
d. With the Holy Spirit as Principal Agent
• The Church as sacrament of salvation is sent by Jesus to the
World to proclaim the Good News of God’s love.
• By the Grace and guidance of the Holy Spirit, the Church is
able to walk the road of Christ to bring glad tidings to the poor,
liberation and forgiveness of sins, transformation of society,
and harmony among people.
• The Holy Spirit has given us gifts to accompany us in our
mission.
Using these gifts, we can continue Jesus’ mission in bringing the
Good News to all people, especially those in our own community.
There are many ways by which we can participate in the mission:
we are called to share our resources to the missions.
Many young people of today are active and alive members in their
respective parishes. They are very willing to participate in the many
activities of the Church and these deepen their sense of
belongingness in the Church.
Our Church in the Philippines is also missionary in nature.
It has special missionary vocation to proclaim the Good News, to
carry the light of Christ to the nations.
Most of the congregations are missionary congregations, not to
mention the three congregation founded by St. Arnold Janssen: SVD,
SSpS and SSpSAP.
These missionary congregations are sending abroad many of their
members.
Christ continues to nourish us in the Holy Eucharist so that we may
become always strong and committed to our mission.
 The Ministries in the Church
The mission of the Church has given rise to numerous ministries
within the Church.
Ministry means “service”, Christian ministry refers to serving the
people of God in a stable fashion.
This includes any public activity of baptized disciple of Christ,
animated by the Grace of the Holy Spirit, performed on behalf of
the Christian community, and in the service of the Kingdom of God.
Ministry is the vocation of all baptized Christians.
We all perform different roles and we call this as ministry.
What we do at home, in school, and in the community, we
also do in the Church.
As member of the Church, we are all called to participate in
her ministry.
Ministries in the Church

Ordained Ministry

Lay Apostolate

Religious Brothers and Sisters

The Ordained Ministry
• The ordained ministry arises from the
Sacrament of Holy Orders.
• The ordained ministers are the
bishops, priests, and deacons.
• They received the authority and
power serve the Church, acting in the
person of Christ, the Head.
They administer sacraments, accompany the people on their
journey to God, and witness what they proclaim.
Bishop is the first in the hierarchy of the ordained ministry.
The most important duty of the Bishop is “preaching the
Gospel”
The Bishops are the authentic teachers endowed with the
authority of Christ, teaching in communion with the Roman
Pontiff.
Through the Spirit, Christ bestowed on His Church on the
College of Bishops teaching in the communion which Peter’s
successor, the Pope, the gift of infallibility.
The gift of infallibility preserves the Church from error in
teaching what God has revealed in faith and morals (CFC 1423)
The Lay Apostolate
• Ministries of the lay faithful
are those who received the
Sacrament of Baptism,
Confirmation, and for many,
Sacrament of Matrimony.
PCP II described the laity’s field of evangelizing activity as: the
vast and complex world of education, politics, society and
economics, as well as the world culture, of the sciences and the
arts, of international life, and the mass media.
To fulfill the mission of communicating Christ in these vast areas,
the Church needs:
- faithful, rich and poor. With special gifts, individual and collective,
farmers, fishers, workers, mass media practitioners, educators and
lawyers, civil servants, those in the medical and nursing services and
professionals in the various strata of society.
St. Pope John Paul II states: the lay faithful, precisely because they
are the members of the Church and have the vocation and mission
to proclaim the Gospel.
The entire mission of the Church, then is concentrated and
manifested in evangelization.
Four aspects of the laity’s role and life

1. Called to a community of families – recognition of a strong

interrelation between community life and family life
2. Called to Christian presence – empowered through baptism,
the lay faithful act as the heart of the Church in the heart of
the world.
3. Called to service and evangelization – the charism of each
helps enrich the Church of different ministries in the field of
pastoral, education, politics, economics, cultural, and mass
media.
4. Called to social transformation – to heal, transform society,
and read the “signs of the times” in the light of the Gospel and
magisterium of the Church.
As lay faithful, we must be available whenever and wherever
our service is needed.
We are aware of what’s happening in our community and in the
society as a whole, that’s why we are deeply distributed by news
reports of poverty, violence, atrocities, injustice, global
warming, extrajudicial killings, and terrorism.
We can help resolve some issues by participating fully in the life
of the Church and giving total commitment to the Church.
 The Religious Brothers and Sisters
The religious brothers and sisters are the faithful who bind
themselves to Christ in a state of life consecrated to God by the
profession of evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity and
obedience (CFC 1426)
The Church recognizes various forms of consecrated life:
monastic, eremitic, religious institutes, secular institutes and
different societies of apostolic life. They are considered a
community of people with their specific religious charisms
characterized by deep spiritual life, Gospel values and holiness.
The religious brothers and sisters are not different from us. They,
too, like the faithful are performing indispensable roles.
They respond totally to the service of God.
The active religious express their charisms in spiritual and corporal
works of mercy; some teach doctrine, some encourage through
exhortation, give retreats and train lay leaders; some give in
simplicity or serve the pastoral work of the Church by educating the
young, caring for the sick, and other services (PCP 11, 480)
Both religious men and women engage themselves in the total
work of the Church and become spiritual leaders in living the
Gospel.

TONGUES OF FIRE