"The Father is Working even now...."

It has been said that the Second Vatican Council changed the way the Church saw missionary work.  Previously, we believed that we had to "take" God and His message to the "natives," who were, of course, ignorant.  But when all the bishops from around the world got together for real dialog, what they discovered was that God is always at work in the lives of people, whether they had heard the Gospel or not, as Karl Rahner claims in his reflection on "anonymous Christians."  The image of a missionary thus became one who lives among a people long enough to see where God is working, and then, like John the Baptist, to annouce, "There He is!" 

Rahner got in trouble briefly with the Vatican as well as with the Buddhists, who were offended by his statement that they too were "anonymous Christians."  But Rahner asked whether the Buddhists believed that God pours out His Spirit on every man, and they readily agreed with that belief.  Rahner claimed that if we began with the message of the Spirit of God working in each culture and in each life, we could come together to explore the ways in which the Spirit was working.  As we explore that question, we open ourselves to "seeing" and welcoming God in our lives.  Thus, we no longer have to "teach" people to know God, for as the Scripture says, I will place my law [instruction] in their hearts, and they will all know me, from the greatest to the least (Jer. 31:33).

We have been told that we are all missionaries of the Good News; perhaps if we see "missionary work" in this way, that of penetrating the lives of others to see where God's Spirit is at work and pointing it out, that idea might become a reality.  At the very least, doing so would create bonds of love rather than dividing us because of our doctrines.