Seminar Missiology: Mission in the Context of Indonesia

Jogjakarta, Wisma Scholastic of Claretian Jogjakarta Community again held a semesteral seminar on Sunday, May 26. In that moment, the seminar took the title Missiological Forum. And the theme that raised in that moment was “Missionary in the Context of Indonesia (A Missiological Reflection on the Message of Pope Francis in Order to Commemorate 100 years of Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud)”. The keynote speaker in this seminar was Fr. Pankratius Rehi Kandelu, CMF, M.A. Miss and moderated by Stu. Theobaldus Deni, CMF. Fr. Pank opened this seminar with talked about what is mission. For him, the important thing in every mission carried out by missionaries should be inspired by Jesus Christ. The existence of Jesus is a central point in every step of the mission in the world. “The mission of Jesus is a starting point in our mission”, he said. Fr. Pank reiterated the importance of the mission centered on Jesus, which is based on the Word of God. A missionary is very much required to mission not for himself, but the proclamation of God in the midst of the world. So, what is proclaimed is God in Jesus Christ. “If the Word of God becomes the basis of the mission then what is proclaimed in the mission is God in Jesus Christ,” he explained. Furthermore, the priest who was born in Sumba, May 12, 1974 explained the mission in Indonesia. He said that the mission in Indonesia was in the corridors of the context, namely plurality, politics, economics, education, health, and terrorism. In his observations, these contexts are real situations regarding the current state of Indonesia as a general description and become study material for current mission opportunities. In his missiological reflection, Fr. Pank again added several themes that could serve as a basis for carrying out missions in the context of Indonesia. These themes include, first, the mission is testimony and preaching; second, the mission is justice, peace and the integrity of nature; third, the mission is interfaith dialogue; fourth, the mission is inculturation; and fifth, the mission is reconciliation. “The mission gets meaning and meaning according to the context as well as answers to concrete situations,” he said. For this reason, quoting Pope Francis’s message to the leaders of the congregation, Fr. Pank hoped that the quality of the missionaries would be improved in the future. Some of the things quoted from Pope Francis are important relationships with Jesus, learning from the testimonies of the saints and laity about the testimony of faith in the midst of mission, biblical formation, catechesis, spirituality and theology, and proclamation of God’s love. Mario F. Cole Putra, CMF