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Gospel Saints Papal Teaching Congregation Pontifical Mission Societies Urban University Mission texts Animation Statistics From the Holy See Testimonies Martyrology Jubilee 2000 Church life Missionaries Religious institutes Movements & Associations Catholic universities Culture History Art Cinema / Photo Radio & tv Music Poetry Health Technology Geography News 360° Dossier In-depth study Interviews Stories Book review Children’s corner		"That the clergy and the laity, and the religious, both men and women, who work in missionary lands, may live and courageously bear witness to the universal call to holiness." Pope John Paul II's missionary prayer intention for the month of April 2003. Comment for Fides Service by Bishop Javier Echevarria, prelate of Opus Dei Vatican City (Fides Service) - The parable of the owner of the vineyard (Mt 20, 1-16) is full of inspiration for reflection. Besides it reminds us of the universality of the Lord's call: like the owner of the vineyard, the heavenly Father loves all men, independent of their merits, and he invites all to be with him because each of them is his son. No one can feel they are excluded from the Lord's call to holiness. God does not reject man; it is perhaps man who excludes God from his horizon. This consideration calls to mind a vibrant exhortation by Saint Josemaria Escriva, a saint who always prayed for missionaries and missions: <It is your duty to become holy. You too...Who says that holiness is an exclusive commitment for priests and religious? The Lord said to everyone "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect" >(Cammino 291). And I also think of the comment that John Paul II makes in his apostolic letter Novo millennio ineunte with regard to this strong and precise call "be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect > (Mt 5,48), in which Jesus, in the sermon on the Mount, summarises the demands of the Christian life. "This ideal of perfection" the Pope writes, " must not be misinterpreted as if it implied a sort of extraordinary life, that can be practised only by a few "geniuses" of holiness. There are many paths to holiness and they are suited to the vocation of each". (Novo millennium ineunte 31). All told the paths to holiness are the paths of daily life: paths that lead to God and which, when we walk them become a trace which others follow more easily, like mountain paths that are never lost, but are trodden by other shepherds and other sheep. In this challenge to holiness we measure the contribution that each one of us can offer to make this world a better place. Our world needs development, security, peace, but above all it needs holiness. <These world crises are crises of saints> (Cammino 301) Saint Josemaria Escriva used to say. Eloquent witness of this, is the heroic work of so many priests, religious and laity in mission ad gentes: the human and supernatural fruits of their efforts are visible not only in mission lands but, thanks to the communion of saints, they extend to all latitudes. Their witness of holiness nourishes not only those directly helped by it to recognise the face of Christ, but also all the faithful in every country where the Church exists and is active. The Church is precisely communicated holiness, as we are reminded by the Catechism of the Catholic Church: <The Communion of saints is precisely the Church> (946). Reciprocally we can say that missionaries also need the holiness of the other Christians. It is true that it is God who fashions saints, not men. But this does not mean that the missionary, or any baptised person who finds he is called to evangelise, can consider himself exonerated from the duty of handing on the proposal of holiness. Indeed, precisely because it is God who sanctifies souls, the Christian knows that his efforts are never in vain and that the prospects for evangelising activity, despite difficulties and dangers, are always encouraging. Biographical note. Bishop Javier Echevarria Rodriguez of the clergy of the personal Prelature of Opus Dei, was born in Madrid on 14 June 1932. He was ordained on 7 August 1955; elected 21 November 1994 and ordained a Bishop on 6 January 1995. He was appointed Prelate of Opus Dei on 24 April 1994. (Fides Service 20/3/2003 EM lines 45 Words: 654)

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