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U homiliji 21. februara 2001. godine, papa Ivan Paul pozdravio je, prema njegovim riječima, „ljude iz svih dijelova svijeta“. Dalje je rekao,

Dolazite iz 27 zemalja sa četiri kontinenta i govorite razne jezike. Nije li ovo znak sposobnosti Crkve, sada kada se proširila na sve krajeve svijeta, da razumije ljude s različitim tradicijama i jezicima, kako bi svima donijela Hristovu poruku? —JOVAN PAVLE II, Homilija, 21. februara 2001; www.vatica.va

Ne bi li ovo predstavljalo ispunjenje Mateja 24:14 tamo gdje se kaže:

Ovo evanđelje kraljevstva propovijedaće se po cijelom svijetu, kao svjedočanstvo svim narodima; a onda će doći kraj (Mt 24:14)?

THE GREAT COMMISSION

With the advent of air travel, TV & film technology, the internet, and the ability to publish and print in many languages, the potential to reach all the nations with the Gospel message today far surpasses what the Church has been able to accomplish in past centuries. Without question, the Church can be found in “every corner of the globe.”

But there is more to Christ’s prophecy that the “gospel of the kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world.” Before He ascended into Heaven, Jesus commanded the Apostles to:

Idite, dakle, i stvorite učenike svih naroda ... (Mt 28:19)

Jesus did not say make disciples in all the nations, but make disciples of all nations. Nations as a whole, generally speaking (since individual souls will always remain free to refuse the Gospel), are to be made into hrišćanin nacije.

While all nations is understood by some scholars as referring only to all Gentiles, it is probable that it included the Jews as well. —footnote, New American Bible, The Revised New Testament

Furthermore, Jesus adds…

…baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matt 28:19-20)

The nations, and their peoples, are to be baptized—but into what? Into stijena that Christ Himself established: the Catholic Church. And the nations are to be taught everything that Jesus commanded: the entire deposit of faith entrusted to the Apostles, the fullness of truth.

Let me then add another question to our first: Is this even realistic, let alone possible? I will answer this first.

GOD’S WORD IS UNSHAKABLE

The Holy Spirit does not speak in vain. Jesus was not a wishful thinker, but the God-man “who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 4:2).

Tako će biti moja riječ koja izlazi iz mojih usta; Neće mi se vratiti ništavno, već će izvršiti moju volju, postižući kraj zbog kojeg sam ga poslao. (Izaija 55:11)

To znamo Dolazeće gospodstvo Crkve is promised not only in Christ’s words, but throughout the Scriptures. The Book of Isaiah begins with a vision whereby Zion, a symbol of the Church, becomes a center of authority and instruction for all the nations:

In days to come, the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills. All nations shall stream toward it; many peoples shall come and say: “Come, let us climb the LORD’S mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and impose terms on many peoples. They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; one nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. (Isaiah 2:2-4)

Certainly, on one level, the Church already shines like a lampstand of truth to the world. Peoples from every nation have flowed to her bosom to encounter the “light of the world” and the “bread of life.” But Isaiah’s vision has a deeper more literal meaning, one understood by the Church Father’s to refer to an “doba mira” when nations will “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” and “shall not raise the sword against another” (see Dolazak Kraljevstva Božjeg). In that time of peace, what the Fathers called a “sabbath rest”, the Church will be “established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills.” Not just theologically, not just spiritually, but činjenično i zaista

"I oni će čuti moj glas, i bit će jedan pas i jedan pastir." Neka Bog ... uskoro ispuni svoje proročanstvo za pretvaranje ove utješne vizije budućnosti u sadašnju stvarnost ... Božji je zadatak ostvariti ovaj sretni čas i učiniti ga poznatim svima ... Kad stigne, ispasti će biti svečani čas, jedan veliki sa posljedicama ne samo na obnovu Kraljevstva Hristovog, već i na smirivanje ... svijeta. Molimo se najgorije i molimo druge da se mole za ovo toliko željeno smirivanje društva. —PAPA PIJ XI, Ubi Arcani dei Consilioi „O Hristovom miru u njegovom kraljevstvu“, Decembar 23, 1922

It is during this time that oba Jew and Gentile will come to embrace the Gospel; that nations will truly become Christian, with the teachings of the Faith as their guide; and the temporal “kingdom of God” will spread to the furthest coasts.

The [Church’s] journey also has an external character, visible in the time and space in which it historically takes place. For the Church “is destined to extend to all regions of the earth and so to enter into the history of mankind” but at the same time “she transcends all limits of time and space.” - POZIVI JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Mater, ne. 25

In a word, the world is to become “Catholic”—factually Univerzalni. In speaking of the “three conversions” of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, Pope Benedict nedavno primijetio that the third was to embrace Catholicism. This third conversion, he said, was part o f the other “steps along a spiritual path that concerns us sve.” Everyone. Thus, to answer our question, such a transformation of society, albeit an imperfect one—for perfection will only come at the end of time—is not only realistic, but it would seem, certain.

Mi priznajemo da nam je na zemlji obećano kraljevstvo, premda pred nebom, samo u drugom stanju postojanja; koliko će biti uskrsnuće hiljadu godina u Jeruzalemu izgrađenom gradu ... —Tertullian (155-240 AD), oca crkvice Nicene; Adversus Marcion, Ante-Nicene Fathers, Henrickson Publishers, 1995, Vol. 3, pp. 342-343); cf. Rev 20:1-7

JUST BEGINNING

In answering the second question, we have answered the first: the gospel has ne been preached throughout the čitav world, despite the inroads Christian missionaries have made. The Church has not, as of yet, made disciples of all the nations. The Catholic Church has not yet fully spread her branches to the very ends of the earth, her sacramental shade falling upon all of civilization. The Sacred Heart of Jesus has yet to beat in every land.

Misija Krista Otkupitelja, koja je povjerena Crkvi, još je uvijek daleko od završetka. Kako se drugi milenij nakon Hristovog dolaska bliži kraju, sveukupni pogled na ljudski rod pokazuje da ova misija tek započinje i da se moramo svim srcem posvetiti njenom služenju. - POZIVI JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Missio, n 1

Postoje regioni svijeta koji još uvijek čekaju prvu evangelizaciju; drugi koji su je primili, ali trebaju dublju intervenciju; još neki u kojima je Evanđelje davno pustilo korijene, stvarajući istinsku kršćansku tradiciju, ali u kojima je, posljednjih stoljeća - sa složenom dinamikom - proces sekularizacije stvorio ozbiljnu krizu značenja kršćanske vjere i koji pripadaju Crkvi. —PAPA BENEDIKT XVI., Prva večernja svečanosti sv. Petar i Paul, 28. juna 2010

To a human being, 2000 years is a long time. To God, it’s more like a couple of days (cf. 2 Pt 3:8). We cannot see what God sees. Only He grasps the full scope of His designs. There is a mysterious divine plan that has unfolded, is unfolding, and remains to be revealed in salvation history. We each have a part to play, no matter how significant or not it may appear (watch Mogu li biti lagan?). That said, we appear to be on the threshold of a great missionary age, a “new springtime” of the Church in the world… But before spring comes, there is zima. And that we must pass through first: the end of this era, and the beginning of a new.

I see the dawning of a new missionary age, which will become a radiant day bearing an abundant harvest, if all Christians, and missionaries and young churches in particular, respond with generosity and holiness to the calls and challenges of our time. - POZIVI JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Missio, br.92