” “"The mission mandate is going on being an absolute priority for all the baptized, asked to be ‘servants and apostles of Jesus Christ’ at the beginning of this Millennium". Those words were written by Benedict XVI in his message for the next World Mission Day, made known today. "As model for this apostolic commitment stated the Pope -, I am pleased to point out Saint Paul, the Apostle of peoples, since this year we are celebrating a special jubilee devoted to him". Today, too, as happened at the time of Saint Paul, "the Creation suffers", and with it, mankind suffers. As a matter of fact, went on the Holy Father, "on the one hand, the international scenario shows us promising perspectives of social and economic development, but on the other hand, it also makes us really worry about the very future of man". Among today’s plagues, there are violence, poverty, discriminations and persecutions for racial, cultural and religious reasons, technological progress whenever it is not meant for the dignity and the good of man, and the reckless use of resources. "Before such scenario", hope "comes to us believers from the Gospel": "Christ is our future", and His Gospel, declared the Pope, "opens wide the dark door of time and illuminates the future of mankind and of the universe".
