Myanmar children learn that mission begins with everyday kindness

Vatican News reports that more than 1,600 children in Myanmar gathered on October 18 to celebrate World Mission Sunday. Agenzia Fides counts more than 1,650 children and young people, brought together by the Pontifical Mission Societies at the Catholic Church of the Assumption in Twantay, in the Archdiocese of Yangon. This year's celebration marked the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday, which the whole Catholic Church observed that day, Vatican News says, citing Radio Veritas Asia.

Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon and leader of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Myanmar, presided over the Mass. In his homily he said that even children can be missionaries by sharing their love of Jesus. Evangelization, he told them, "is not a task reserved for priests, religious sisters, bishops or adults." Children can be missionaries wherever they live, study and meet other people, especially their peers, he said, according to Fides. "You do not have to wait until you are adults to become missionaries. You can be missionaries already today," he told them.

Preaching on Isaiah 60:1, the cardinal urged the children to become lights of Christ through small acts of kindness, such as "welcoming lonely classmates, sharing food with those in need, helping others and standing alongside children who are victims of bullying or exclusion". Vatican News reports he said children can be missionaries in their own homes, schools, parishes and communities. People can meet the love of Jesus through words and through witness, he said, and the children are not alone in this work, because Jesus promised to be with them always.

Cardinal Bo also asked the children to remember other children who suffer from conflict, displacement and hunger, in Myanmar and around the world, Vatican News reports. He reminded them that they do not have to be famous or do anything outstanding. What counts is sharing the light of Jesus and bringing God's love to others. Fides describes the setting as a country wounded by war, where these children live amid suffering and hardship.

Father James Kyaw Lin Htun, director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the Archdiocese of Yangon, reminded the youngest participants of their responsibility to love, serve and pray for others, especially the poor and those who suffer, Fides reports. The event was organized by the Yangon archdiocesan society and its director.

That is mission work any child can start on Monday, and any grandparent too. A welcome for the lonely, a shared meal, a hand to someone who is pushed aside: these are small things, but the cardinal says they are how the light of Christ reaches a hurting place. Pray for these children, and for the land they are learning to love in Jesus' name.