“ITE, MISSA EST†AND SYNODAL CHURCH IN THE LIGHT OF CHRISTIAN WITNESSING: THE AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The Synod on Synodality calls for communion, participation and mission. Every Eucharistic celebration ends with the dismissal command “Ite, Missa Est†as a missionary mandate. In this way, it finds justification for the third dimension of the theme of the synod. Unfortunately, some worshippers do not have deeper understanding of the mandate. As such, they have not come to terms with the Eucharist as a springboard for the realization of the missionary mandate of Jesus. Instead, some in the liturgical assembly see Eucharistic liturgy only from the ceremonial point of view. Accordingly, the fruits are not seen in this missionary drive to go into the world to renew it. Consequently, the effect of the mandate is not very evident in the immediate community. With the aids of descriptive and analytical methods, the paper argues that at the end of every Eucharistic celebration, the people of God are sent out into the world to continue the celebration by calling others to the banquet through their Christian witnessing. Each participant, who has been fed and nourished at the two tables of the Word and the Sacraments, is invited and challenged to this mission of preaching the Gospel to the ends of the earth.