1999 WORLD MISSION DAY MESSAGE FOCUSSES ON THE "OUR FATHER"

VATICAN CITY, MAY 25, 1999 (VIS) - Pope John Paul's Message for the 73rd World Mission Day, which will fall on Sunday, October 24, 1999 was published today. It focusses on the "Our Father," and analyzes, line by line, how this prayer helps us "to understand more easily the source of the apostolic commitment of the Church and the basic motives which make it missionary 'unto the ends of the earth'."

World Mission Day is traditionally the third Sunday of October. The Pope's annual message is usually published in May, and dated Pentecost Sunday.

The Pope writes is his 1999 Message, dated May 23, that "World Mission Day offers each of us the opportunity to better underscore (the) common missionary vocation. ... The mission of salvation is universal; for each person and for all people. It is the duty of the entire people of God, of all the faithful. The missionary calling should thus be a passion for every Christian, a passion for the salvation of the world and an ardent commitment to bring about the kingdom of the Father."

For this to happen, writes the Holy Father, there must be "ceaseless prayer, ... the offering up of one's sufferings ... and a personal commitment to support those agencies which cooperate in missionary work."

In his analysis of the prayer, John Paul II says that the opening line, "Our Father who art in heaven," reveals that "every human being and all peoples seek ... the mysterious face of God ... 'who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth'."

"Hallowed be thy name," the Pope writes, tells us that God must be made known to peoples, cultures and nations. It is man's "awareness that his encounter with God promotes and exalts the dignity of man" that brings him to pray these words.

With the words, "'Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done', believers invoke the coming of the divine kingdom and the glorious return of Christ. ... The Church proclaims that this kingdom of justice, peace and love ... is mysteriously achieved ... thanks to individuals, families and communities who choose to live in a radical fashion the teachings of Christ."

In his examination of the words, "Give us this day our daily bread," Pope John Paul writes: "In our times there is a very strong awareness that all have a right to 'daily bread', that is, to what is necessary to live. What is equally felt is the need for rightful justice and a sharing marked by solidarity. ... Notwithstanding this, a great many people still live in a way not consonant with their human dignity."

The Pope underlines God's love and "merciful goodness" in the face of sin and sinners when he meditates on the lines, "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."
With the words, "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil," says the Holy Father, "we are asking God to not allow us to take the path of sin and to free us from an evil which is often inspired by a personal being, Satan, who wishes to hinder God's plan and the work of salvation fulfilled by Him in Christ. ... In social contexts strongly dominated by the logic of power and violence, the Church's mission is to witness to God's love and the strength of the Gospel, which break up hatred and vendetta, egoism and indiffernce."

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