THE MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY:

THE LOVE OF GOD PROCLAIMED

Christmar I. Daguno, MA, SThL
Dean of Studies, Domus Josephi Formation Center
Military Ordinariate of the Philippines

Introduction
I thank Bro. Ruel Aguirre, a full time worker of the Lord for the opportunity to speak on
the Spirituality of Mission. I am grateful for Fr. Joy Yu for facilitating my presence here with
you. As missionaries, I salute you for your unrelenting courage, unwavering faith and undying
passion for missions. I was myself, a missionary to the Filipino migrants. I spent two years in
Italy, combining missions and study. I spent almost three years in Taipei, Taiwan and almost
two years in Dee Why, New South Wales (Sydney). Mission was an experience of joy and
sorrow; of aridity and bounty; of lapses and graces. I would confess that I am unworthy to speak
about the Spirituality of the Mission, but allow me to explore some possible academic and
personal experiences on the encounter with God.
The title given me is the Missionary Spirituality. I would delimit my study to Spirituality
in general and Mission in general. Both subjects when combined would warrant a life time (and
perhaps life eternal) to finish the course. I will attempt to combine both, using some studies by
Spiritual Authors and Missiologists.

Meaning of Spirituality
Philosophy and Theology have taught us, through Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas,
respectively that we are composed of Body and Soul. The theory is called hylemorphism.
On one hand, our body longs for its bodily needs like food, shelter and clothing. When
bodily needs are addressed, when the question of daily survival is given attention, we call it
humane living and decent life. On the other hand, our souls long for God, as embodied in the
Book of Psalms1. Msgr. Charles Pope, a writer of Our Sunday Visitor, says, that “this is what
theologians call ‘capax Dei’, a capacity for God.2 St. Augustine, speaks of this in his prayer
“Lord, teach me to know and understand which of these should be first, to call on You, or to
praise You; and likewise to know You, or to call upon You.”3 In his recent book Mercy Alone,
Bishop Ted Bacani exemplified this when he wrote “I was loved not because I was good but
because God is good. My real value came from his undeserved love. When I had nothing to
cling to, I held tightly to God”.4 For Filipinos, the fulfillment of this capax Dei, is visible
“because we Filipinos are not content with simply looking at Sacred Images and pictures, or
listening to the Sacred Scripture or to the lives of the Saints; we want to approach them, touch
them and feel them too”.5 Filipinos love to touch and by touching they believe their nearness,
attachment and devotion to spiritual things.
A spiritual theologian by the name of Jordan Aumann defines Spirituality in general as
“any religious or ethical value that is concretized as an attitude or spirit from which one’s actions
flow. It applies to any person who has a belief in the divine or transcendent and fashions a

1
Psalms 42:2, Psalms 143:7, Psalms 63:1.
2
“Spirit and Soul”, Msgr. Charles Pope, Our Sunday Visitor Weekly. April 24, 2016 Issue, p. 15.
3
Confessions, Book I.
4
+Teodoro Bacani. Mercy Alone. (no publisher: 2016), p. 69.
5
CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES. Landas ng Pagpapakabanal:
Pastoral Letter on Filipino Spirituality. (Word and Life Publications: Makati, Philippines), #36.

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 THE MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY:
THE LOVE OF GOD PROCLAIMED
Christmar I. Daguno, MA, SThL
Dean of Studies, Domus Josephi Formation Center
Military Ordinariate of the Philippines

lifestyle according to one’s religious convictions.” 6 However, he adds that “in the strictest sense
of the word, the only authentic spirituality is a spirituality centered in Jesus Christ and through
him to the Trinity”.7 The Catholic Faith teaches that Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life 8
brings us to the fulfillment of capax Dei which the soul yearns. All spirituality therefore flows
from the person and in the name of Jesus. In fact, CBCP Pastoral Letter Landas ng
Pagpapakabanal, continues to enlighten us on Spirituality with the following words “we
approach Jesus so that we may know him deeper, so that his Kalooban can configure us so that
his way of life becomes our own.”9
Aumann continues that Spirituality is “a participation in the mystery of Christ through the
interior life of grace, actuated by faith, charity and other Christian virtues.” 10 In this light, a true
spirituality could only be drawn when anchored on Jesus and permeated in our lives.

Meaning of Mission11
The nature of the Church is reflected by its missionary character. The essential
missionary dimension of the Church is rooted in the mission12 of Christ himself and in the love of
the Trinity. “The Church here on earth is by its very nature missionary since according to the
Father, it has its origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 13 As an instrument of the
saving action of Christ, the Church reaches out to all men and women and witnesses to the
kingdom, by “bringing good news to the poor, proclaiming liberty to captives, giving sight to the
blind and letting the oppressed go free and proclaiming a year of favor from the Lord” 14. As the
universal sacrament of salvation, the Church faithfully carries out the arduous task of
propagating and preserving the faith handed on by Jesus Christ, sustained by the Holy Spirit and
transmitted through the testimony of the Apostles:
“Having been Divinely sent to the nations that she might be the universal
sacrament of salvation, the Church, in obedience to the command of her
founder and because it is demanded by her own essential universality, strives
to preach the Gospel to all men. The apostles in whom the Church was

6
Jordan Aumann, OP. Spiritual Theology. (University of Sto. Tomas Publishing: Manila,
Philippines), page 17.
7
Ibid.
8
John 14:6
9
Landas ng Pagpapakabanal: Pastoral Letter on Filipino Spirituality, 110.
10
Spiritual Theology, page 18.
11
This an excerpt of the Licentiate Thesis entitled “The Missionary Dimension of the Philippine
Church: The Mission to the Filipino Migrants” by Christmar I. Daguno at the Pontifical Urbaniana
University. 7 March 2003. Vatican City.
12
Before the conversion activity (mission) was called Preaching of Christ, Propagating the Father,
Promulgating the Gospel, Procuring health. The term missions in plural became only in the modern
period. Cf. Gianni Colzani, Teologia della Missione: Vivere la Fede Donandola. (Messagero di S.
Antonio: Padova, 1996), 13. A personal translation
13
Ad Gentes Divinitus, 2.
14
Cf Luke 4:18

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 THE MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY:
THE LOVE OF GOD PROCLAIMED
Christmar I. Daguno, MA, SThL
Dean of Studies, Domus Josephi Formation Center
Military Ordinariate of the Philippines

founded, following the footsteps of Christ, ‘preached the word of truth and
begot Churches’.15
The word mission has various meanings. It comes from the Latin mittere meaning to
send. Mission etymologically signifies the reality of sending one or more persons to determined
placed and with a particular scope on behalf of another person who has authority. In the Old
Testament, mission refers to the election and sending of some persons on the part of Yahweh
with a message to transmit or an activity to announce. In the New Testament, the word mission
denotes the authorized sending of Jesus Christ to do the will of the One who sent him and to
fulfill the work entrusted to Him. It also signifies the sending of the twelve and the other
disciples to testify to Christ and to announce His Gospel to the ends of the earth.16
Missionary activity is no less than the manifestation of God’s design to save mankind. 17
The universal Church and the particular Churches work to achieve the fulfillment of this mission.
Mission should bring about and deepen true communion in the Church. 18 The primary end of
mission is communion with the Father and its visible sign is the communion of people gathered
by the Lord. In fact, as Tillard upholds “in the missionary activity of the Church, it is, therefore,
the power of the Lord himself – that of the Spirit received at his Resurrection – which through
the ecclesial Body which is his own penetrates the world”.19

The Early Christian Community

And the Missionary Spirituality
Reading the Acts of the Apostles 20 brings us to the experience of Early Christians and to
the praedicatio Christi of the missiologists. The coming of the Holy Spirit, conversion stories,
reported healings, the boldness of Apostles and believers, sharing of their possessions and the
persecution of Stephen, bring us to a good preview of the Missionary Spirituality. “The Gospel,
radiant with the glory of Christ’s cross, constantly invites us to rejoice.” 21 The Apostles and
early Christians proclaimed Jesus with fire. They worshipped as a community. They shared
their property in common. They were intensely persecuted. Finally, they were seriously
missionary.
It is also proper that we evaluate the present situation as we go through our Missionary
Spirituality. “Langdon Gilkey has described our contemporary situation as a “time of troubles,”
a stormy sea or tempest, through which Christian Theology must pass like a ship on the high
seas.”22 Our experience of mission in the post modern world is hampered by various ideologies
and challenging situations. The challenges of today’s world call for a wider and deeper

15
Ad Gentes Divinitus, 1.
16
Cf “Missione” in Dizionario di Missiologia. Daniel Acharuparambil, OCD et al., collaboratori.
Pontificia Universita Urbaniana, Citta de Vaticano 1993, 367-368. Unofficial translation
17
Redemptoris Missio, 41.
18
Redemptoris Missio, 62.
19
J M R Tillard, OP, Church of Churches: The Ecclesiology of Communion. (The Liturgical
Press: Collegeville, Minnesota, 1992), 28.
20
Acts of the Apostles chapters 2,3,4,5,6.
21
Evangelii Gaudium 5.
22
Richard G. Cote, Re-Visioning Mission. (Paulist Press: New York, 1996), 159

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 THE MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY:
THE LOVE OF GOD PROCLAIMED
Christmar I. Daguno, MA, SThL
Dean of Studies, Domus Josephi Formation Center
Military Ordinariate of the Philippines

evaluation of Missionary Spirituality. Lest we forget, it is in dying from our own selves, even in
our suffering from persecutions that we could be true missionaries.
Looking closely at the experience of Early Christians and evaluating on the present
situation of our society, it is clear that a true spirituality should be anchored on Jesus, with “fire”
or “zeal”, in the context of a community, and in boldness of the spirit. Only in bringing back the
fire and the joy of early Christians that missionaries would bring the across God’s message of
salvation.
In fact, Pope Francis who says yes to a missionary spirituality, writes: “It is striking that
even some who clearly have solid doctrinal and spiritual convictions frequently fall into a
lifestyle which leads to an attachment to financial security, or to a desire for power or human
glory at all cost, rather than giving their lives to others in mission. Let us not allow ourselves to
be robbed of missionary enthusiasm!”23
It is also imperative that missionary Spirituality today would involve in an intense
dialogue – a dialogue with religions, culture, ideas and even with the post modern world:
Dialogue, in the words of Edgar Javier, SVD, “is a process of talking and listening, of giving and
receiving, of searching and studying for the deepening and enriching of one another.” The
document Dominus Iesus states that the Holy Spirit touches not only the individuals but also
cultures and religions.24
Finally, the true missionary Spirituality should “follow the way of Christ, fill up and
transform our way of life, walk on the sea with faith, break the bread and feed, forgive and heal,
cast out demons and raise the dead.”25

Conclusion
Our journey to build a Missionary Spirituality would capture a deeper understanding
when we appreciate the Church’s missionary journey. It is also useful to look back at the
Scriptures, the Church History, and the experience of faith to appreciate a true missionary
spirituality.
It is in the context of “fire or zeal” “dialogue” “faith” and “true encounter” with Jesus
that we could see the perspective of His mission, of which, apart from him, we could do
nothing.26
Let me end this talk with a prayer found in the morning prayer of the breviary, a prayer
which we could always utter as missionaries: “Lord, may everything we do begin with your
inspiration and continue with your saving help. May our work always find its origin in you and
through you reach completion. Through Christ our Lord.”
Amen.

23
Evangelii Gaudium 80.
24
Dominus Iesus 12.
25
Cf Landas ng Pagpapakabanal: Pastoral Letter on Filipino Spirituality, 89,92,95,97,99, 102, 105,
107
26
John 15:5