FRA en læser:
I en homilie den 21. februar 2001 bød pave Johannes Paul med sine ord velkommen "mennesker fra alle dele af verden." Han sagde videre,
Du kommer fra 27 lande på fire kontinenter og taler forskellige sprog. Er dette ikke et tegn på Kirkens evne, nu hvor hun har spredt sig til alle hjørner af kloden, til at forstå folk med forskellige traditioner og sprog for at bringe hele Kristi budskab? - JOHN PAUL II, prædiken, 21. februar 2001; www.vatica.va
Ville dette ikke udgøre en opfyldelse af Matt 24:14, hvor der står:
Dette evangelium om riget vil blive forkyndt over hele verden som et vidnesbyrd for alle nationer; og så kommer enden (Matt 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:
Gå derfor ud og gør alle nationers disciple ... (Matt 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 Christian nationer.
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 klippen 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).
Så skal mit ord være, der går ud af min mund; Det vender ikke tilbage til mig ugyldigt, men skal gøre min vilje og nå den ende, som jeg sendte den til. (Esajas 55:11)
Det ved vi Kirkens kommende herredømme 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. Alle nationer 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 “æra med fred” when nations will “beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” and “shall not raise the sword against another” (see Guds rige kommer). 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 faktuelt og virkelig.
"Og de skal høre min røst, og der skal være en fold og en hyrde." Måtte Gud ... snart bringe sin profeti til opfyldelse for at omdanne denne trøstende vision om fremtiden til en nuværende virkelighed ... Det er Guds opgave at skabe denne happy hour og gøre den kendt for alle ... Når den ankommer, vil den vise sig at være en højtidelig time, en stor med konsekvenser ikke kun for genoprettelsen af Kristi rige, men for pacificering af ... verdenen. Vi beder inderligt og beder andre ligeledes om at bede for denne meget ønskede pacificering af samfundet. —OPP PIUS XI, Ubi Arcani dei Consilioi "Om Kristi fred i hans rige", December 23, 1922
It is during this time that både 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.” —OPP JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Mater, ikke. 25
In a word, the world is to become “Catholic”—factually universal. In speaking of the “three conversions” of Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman, Pope Benedict for nylig noteret 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 alle.” 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.
Vi indrømmer, at et rige er lovet os på jorden, skønt før himlen, kun i en anden eksistensstilstand; i det omfang det vil være efter opstandelsen i tusind år i den guddommelig bygget Jerusalem ... —Tertullian (155–240 e.Kr.), Nicene Church Father; Modsat 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 ikke been preached throughout the Hele 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.
Kristi Forløserens mission, som er betroet kirken, er stadig meget langt fra afsluttet. Da det andet årtusinde efter Kristi komme nærmer sig slutningen, viser en samlet opfattelse af menneskeheden, at denne mission stadig kun er begyndt, og at vi må helhjertet forpligte os til dens tjeneste. —OPP JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Missio, n. 1
Der er regioner i verden, som stadig venter på en første evangelisering; andre, der har modtaget det, men har brug for en dybere indblanding; endnu en gang, hvor evangeliet har lagt rødder for længe siden, hvilket giver anledning til en ægte kristen tradition, men hvor sekulariseringsprocessen i de senere århundreder - med kompleks dynamik - har skabt en alvorlig krise af betydningen af den kristne tro og af tilhører kirken. —POPE BENEDICT XVI, Første Vespers af St. Peter og Paul, 28. juni 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 Kan jeg være let?). 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 vinter. 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. —OPP JOHN PAUL II, Redemptoris Mission.92
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