IN SEASON AND OUT OF SEASON

On being a missionary in China today

By Fr. Brian Swords, S.F.M.
January/February 2002

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Missionaries in today's context are considered by some to be an anachronism at best and an impediment to the self-realization of others at worst. To be a priest-missionary seems to exacerbate the situation. The celibate priesthood is under fire from psychologists, human rights workers, the media and a host of others within and outside the Church.

Why then do I not only continue but also savour being a missionary and a priest in the current environment? It comes down to a basic belief. I believe that God loves me and in return, I try to love God. I believe I am working at responding to the Spirit at work in my life, in the life of Scarboro Missions, and in the Church in Canada and throughout the world.

Am I successful? In all honesty I must say I do not know. Currently accepted criteria indicate that I am not, nor have I been, successful. I have not baptized any Chinese people in China. I have not built any churches, schools or started any grand program. In my heart I do believe that I have tried and continue to try to respond and that is what encourages me to continue and to do so with a light step. Success or failure do influence me; however, who and how I am in my own eyes or the eyes of others is not as important as who and how I am in the eyes of Jesus-whom I not only try to follow but love.

Teaching English in China as a missionary is a simple yet poignant response to a real need. Being a missionary here entails being a presence-a quiet witness to the fact that these are my brothers and sisters. We are one; Jesus has redeemed all of us.

I have become part of the lives of many students for brief but formative periods and a few of these relationships have continued and developed. I believe these young people are and have been my children. We have formed relationships which have affected them and me.

Many students have told me that I was their first contact with a stranger or foreigner and that this has helped them understand Westerners and Catholics. For others I have been a question mark. Chinese colleagues and students often ask, Why teach when you could be employed with a better salary in Canada?

Some Canadian Catholics have asked why I teach in China when there is such a need for priests in Canadian parishes at this time. The questions are valid and challenge me to reflect and answer them. My reply continues to evolve in the context of a priest-missionary teaching in China.

Being a missionary-being a part of Church and the People of God is for me a privilege. Faith is a gift. In reply to this gift I have become a priest missionary. This is my simple, ongoing response. Each of us must respond to the gift of faith with which we have been so generously endowed.

As we revisit our response and glory in the challenges which God sets before us, let our prayer be that we be faithful in season and out of season, just as Jesus is for the world and for us. Let us strive to be authentic.†

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