Ad Gentes Divinitus: On Missionary Activity
By John Graveline, Director of Parish Life
August 9, 2026
“At the sight of the Lord the disciples rejoiced. Jesus said again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.’ Then he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’”
John 20:20-22
As we continue to reflect upon the documents of Vatican II at the beginning of the Year of the Holy Spirit, this week we continue to consider the question “What is our mission as modern Catholics?” by exploring Vatican II’s Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity (also known by its Latin title Ad gentes divinitus).
We begin by recalling from last week that Vatican II’s Constitution on Divine Revelation (Dei verbum) begins, “Hearing the Word of God with reverence, and pro-claiming it with faith . . . it wants the whole world to hear the summons to salvation.” (Constitution on Divine Revelation, no. 1) After we experience the first step of our mission by hearing and heeding the Word of God proclaimed to us, the second movement is spreading everywhere the Good News ourselves to those in need of the healing and peace found only in Christ our Savior.
The message that we proclaim in our missionary work is that the love of God in Christ has triumphed over sin and death.
The Church’s call to missionary work flows from the fact that “God decided to enter into the history of mankind in a new and definitive manner, by sending his own Son in human flesh so that through him he might . . . reconcile the world to himself.” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, no. 2). Jesus, the Son of God, was sent forth on mission from the heart of the Father to offer us the Grace of eternal life. (John 10:10) Likewise, “Christ sent the Holy Spirit from the Father” to dwell within us through baptism and the other sacraments, so that all people might live in communion with God and neighbor in love. (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, no. 4) This highlights to two foundational truths: first, our God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) is a missionary God and second, the call to evangelization does not belong to only certain Christians but to all baptized disciples.
The message that we proclaim in our missionary work is that the love of God in Christ has triumphed over sin and death. We spread the Good News that we have been “snatched from sin and are being led into the mystery of God’s love, who invites us to establish a personal relationship with him in Christ.” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, no. 13) In other words, we preach the kerygma—the story of Creation, Fall, Redemption and our response of faith—centered on the Paschal Mystery of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the salvation of the world. “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
A critical question at this point is how do we spread the Gospel? The methodology of evangelization that we employ is Christ’s way, the way of Incarnation. “If the Church is to be in a position to offer all people the mystery of salvation and the life brought by God, then it must implant itself among all these groups in the same way that Christ by his Incarnation committed himself to the particular social and cultural circumstances of those among whom he lived.” (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, no. 10) Just as Jesus fulfilled his mission by both deeds (signs and miracles, compassion for the suffering and those harshly judged, gathering together a beloved community, service and sacrifice, etc.) and words (parables, sermons, discourses, dialogues, prayers, etc.), we are called to evangelize in both our deeds and words, with the emphasis first on deeds. We are called to accompany people in their joys and hopes as well as their grief and anguish. We are called to look for the seeds of the Gospel in all peoples and cultures, retaining what is true, good, and beautiful while correcting what is not in harmony with the love revealed in Christ and in accord with human dignity. Shortly after Vatican II, Pope St. Paul VI wrote, “Modern people listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.” (On Evangelization in the Modern World, no. 41) However, we must also “always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope.” (1 Peter 3:15)
All human cultures carry within them the seeds of the Gospel of Christ, and no culture, race, or nation has a monopoly on truth, goodness, or beauty.
If we are being honest, Christian missionary activity historically has not always been performed in an incarnational manner. Colonization many times caused Christian missionaries to believe that only European or Western culture was conducive to Christianity, so they imposed their cultural or national values on indigenous peoples as part and parcel of the Christianity they preached (or sometimes even imposed). An example of this that hits close to home is the abuses that took place in the institutions referred to as Indian residential schools, such as Mount Pleasant Indian Industrial Boarding School, which operated from 1893-1934. These schools were established by Congress and often run by Catholic religious orders (although the Mt. Pleasant school wasn’t, the Indian school in Harbor Springs was). Their philosophy as stated by General Richard Pratt was “kill the Indian to save the man.” Thousands of children were forced from their tribes and homes, stripped of any vestige of their heritage (language, clothes, etc.) and taught “proper” Western/Christian values. Many children were abused and/or died in these schools, buried in unmarked mass graves. Just four years ago this month, Pope Francis made a special apostolic journey to Canada to apologize to the indigenous peoples of North America. “For the deplorable conduct of those members of the Catholic Church, I ask for God’s forgiveness, and I want to say to you with all my heart: I am very sorry . . . It is chilling to think of determined efforts to instill a sense of inferiority, to rob people of their cultural identity, to sever their roots, and to consider all the personal and social effects that this continues to entail: unresolved traumas that have become intergenerational traumas.” The path for evangelization in our times is a path of inculturation. All human cultures carry within them the seeds of the Gospel of Christ, and no culture, race, or nation has a monopoly on truth, goodness, or beauty. All are in need of repentance and the reconciliation and healing of Christ. (Decree on the Church’s Missionary Activity, no. 15, Acts 17:16-31)
This weekend, Assumption Parish is blest to host Tom McGuire from the US-China Catholic Association on our annual Mission Co-op weekend. The mission field in China is one filled with opportunities and pitfalls. One of my favorite Catholic authors, John C.H. Wu, the first Chinese ambassador to the Vatican, once likened the spiritual and philosophical riches of Chinese culture as jugs of water waiting to be turned into wine by Jesus. On the other hand, the current Chinese political regime is explicitly atheist/Communist and violate many human rights, including the religious persecution of Christians and Muslims. I look forward to hearing Mr. McGuire’s insights and learning about the ways that we can support the missionary work of the US-China Catholic Association.
This upcoming week, we will continue our reflection on the question “What is our mission as modern Catholics?” by reading the Vatican II document Declaration on the Christian Education (also known by its Latin title Gravissimum educationis). Click here to read this document on the Vatican website.
John