DARING, A MISSIONARY VIRTUE

DARING AS A VIRTUE? [48]
Psychology recognizes specific human behaviors occurring when, in the course of life, the individual finds himself confronted with difficulties, threats and dangers. At those times, the simple wish - "I really would like" - proves inadequate. What is required is an effort that strains every fiber of one's being, an effort which leads one to assume a whole different range of attitudes and actions in an interplay of anxieties and daring, fears and ill-temper, withdrawal and aggression. These are perhaps transitory movements, what Saint Thomas Aquinas called passions and we today would call emotions, spontaneous reactions. We could also be dealing with more enduring temperamental attributes: some people are fearful and timid, others relish risk, adventure and lofty endeavors.
These passions, these traits of temperament can operate on the level of spontaneous reactions of elementary psychology. They can also be integrated into the overall dynamism of the person, and that in a number of ways. One of these ways is virtue through which passions and temperamental attributes are not rejected, but rather assumed into the service of what is good, the plan of God - something which, in the last analysis, can take place only with the grace of God.
It is in this context that we can deal with daring. The outlook is that of a project to be carried out. But dangers and threats are perceived. Risks have to be run. How will the individual react?
Some people will imprison themselves in fear; others will flee, seeking a protected area or familiar ground where they believe they are safe; in the case of others, we can speak of resignation. In any case, there is no question of these latter sustaining the drive of a project, or of an ambition to be realized. Others, on the other hand, relish risk and adventure. There is a James Dean film which bears the title: A Rage to Live. Does this conjure up explorers, lone sailors or the mountain climber, the drivers of racing cars or motorcycles or the soldier? Or, one can also think of entrepreneurs, artists setting off on new roads, prophets decrying pernicious stagnation, political leaders. It is a case of exerting all one's energy, of not allowing oneself to be discomfited by risk or threats, to have the courage to be creative and to confront.
MISSION
Etymologically, apostles and missionaries, are people who are sent. It also stresses the source of this sending: God, the Holy Spirit, the Church, superiors. Perhaps not sufficient attention has been paid to the destination. It is always different from one's home, from the familiar; it is always somewhere else, some place beyond a frontier. Peter is called upon to go to the home of an uncircumcised person. Paul is called to move over into Europe, whereas Mark feared to follow him into the mountains of Pisidia. It was the same for Francis Xavier, Alexandre Taché or Joseph Gérard.
To the Eleven, the resurrected Christ first said: "Go". That is, set out on the road. And according to Saint John: "You did not choose me, no, I chose you; and I commissioned you to go out and to bear fruit" (John 15:16). In the renowned formula as found in Luke (10:2) and Matthew (9:38): "Ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest", the Greek verb used for "to send" is neither the frequently used apostellein, nor even John's pempein, but rather ekballein, used in the case of throwing out or casting out demons, an expression that has a connotation of violence. The "Go" demands that the missionary inflict upon himself a certain violence to leave his home and travel to another place.
The first meaning attributed to "another place" is geographic. Mission history outlines its stages from Caesarea and Antioch to Corinth and then Rome; then, with Augustine it was England; with Francis Xavier, Japan; then, the Americas and Africa. That is the most visible aspect. But another relocation happens especially on the cultural plane. From the Gentiles, the pagan nations of the New Testament, to the Inuit, the Basotho or the Hmong. This other cultural dislocation also exists where there is geographic proximity and the same language. The encyclical The Mission of Christ, the Redeemer uses the expression "areopagi of modern times" [49] for those other locations removed from ecclesial communities.
Can one really say that there is any mission without leaving one's home, without going beyond frontiers, without crossing boundaries, and consequently without striving to live some place else, something that implies being in a different way?
In centuries past, the geographic voyage was fraught with difficulties. Saint Paul was well acquainted with dangers, "dangers from rivers, dangers from bandits [...] dangers in the desert, dangers on the sea" (2 Corinthians 11:26). The difficult living conditions of the missionaries have often been stressed: arctic cold and snow, tropical heat, disease, uncertain housing. The greatest difficulty is cultural dislocation, beginning with learning the language. By definition, one never reaches the goal. The going beyond frontiers, the leaps that never quite attain their goal, are essential elements of the missionary task.
As a result, to be faithful to the Word of God, missionary existence demands courage and even daring:
- the courage to leave for another place and to try to live there physically and culturally;
- the courage, in the name of the Gospel, to confront the society to which one is sent and to challenge it - "Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division" - and to sustain the backlash, often the rejection, sometimes exile and death.
- the courage to try new things and be creative because the Spirit does not allow itself to be confined in preconceived models of missionary methods, of communities to be built, of ministries to be set up. Bishop de Mazenod wrote: "Charity embraces everything; and for new needs, it invents new means when they are called for".
- We can add the courage to endure criticism, sometimes severe criticism leveled at the ecclesial communities that sent the missionaries. The Acts of the Apostles gives us several examples of this.
DARING, A MISSIONARY VIRTUE
The Dictionnaire Robert defines daring as "an inclination or movement which leads to extraordinary actions in spite of obstacles and dangers". Personal fidelity to the Gospel and the building up of the Church are never accomplished without struggle, without risk-taking, without daring. Saint Paul speaks of the "foolishness of God, more wise than the wisdom of men". The wisdom of this world, i.e. to be reasonable, is not the wisdom of the Gospel. "To shame the wise, God chose what is weak by human reckoning" (I Corinthians 1:27).
To dare is "to undertake, to strive with assurance, daring to accomplish something deemed difficult, unusual or dangerous" (Dictionnaire Robert). "The Gospel is the power of God for salvation for whoever believes". It would be impossible for the Gospel to reach people, all people, without having it proclaimed everywhere in all of those other locations, with assurance and daring. It is said and lived in every page which narrates the history of the missions.
It is true that abuses and excesses may occur. In those cases, daring has slipped into foolhardiness, rashness, unnecessary risk-taking. Such cases are not rare, but who can stand as judge over them since discernment is a sensitive matter and requires humility. On the other hand as far as the Gospel is concerned, lack of daring, cowardliness, spinelessness, turning in on oneself, entrenching oneself in old habits and personal security are faults of quite a different seriousness. Parrhesia: that is assurance, full freedom of speech in God's name are missionary qualities. We need to reread the Second Letter to the Corinthians, chapters 2 to 6. We need to hear once again the "woe unto me if I do not preach the Gospel".
Some parallels have been drawn between the missionary and the adventurer. Deviations are never precluded and history shows that some have let themselves be carried away. Adventurers were to be found in the ranks of missionaries. But more often than not, faith, fidelity to the Holy Spirit, apostolic zeal succeeded in guiding and integrating the inclination for adventure, the relish of risk, the courage to go beyond frontiers. What was a temperamental attribute became a virtue. In the face of difficulties, virtue manifested itself in continuity and constancy: there was no giving up. It channeled the spontaneous reaction toward good; it stood without fear; it did not give in to discouragement or allow itself to be overwhelmed. Finally, it showed forth joyful and serene assurance. We must also remember the basic role played by that practical wisdom Saint Thomas called prudence, a wisdom which knows how to weigh the risks and address them in reasonable fashion, that is, sometimes with the folly of God!
But the Christian virtue of fortitude is not dependent on temperament. It can also be found in people less inclined to it by nature. Through this virtue, the missionary overcomes his fears, his diffidence to carry out the work of the Gospel. He develops the capability to move forward, confront problems, find new ways of doing things, "leave nothing undared". Saint Thomas reminds us that fortitude is not only a virtue, it is a gift of the Holy Spirit. He points out the correlation between this virtue and the beatitude: "Happy those who hunger and thirst for justice" (Matthew 5:6). Quite a program of action!
Virtues are first and foremost personal attributes. But communities in the Church as such are also capable of virtues. There are some communities that are diffident or closed in on themselves and some courageous and even daring communities. Daring is a constitutive virtue of missionary institutes.
THE FOLLY OF THE CROSS, HUNGER AND THIRST FOR JUSTICE
"Read this letter at the foot of your crucifix" such was the first call Eugene de Mazenod issued to Father Tempier [50]. From there was born the Congregation of the Oblates. The crucifix is the reminder of "the folly of the cross", the source of the Gospel, the power of salvation for all. The apostolic worker is gnawed by the hunger and thirst for justice. His model here is Paul, and ultimately Jesus. In their wake, the Oblates are called to be men who have the will and the courage to walk in the footsteps of the Apostles. To accomplish this they must "leave nothing undared".

MICHEL COURVOISIER

[48] The theme of daring does not seem to have been the object of much research, much like the entire theology of the virtues, i.e., with reference to apostolic sanctity. We will have to be satisfied with a few initial reflections with the hope that they will open up avenues for further research.
[49] JOHN PAUL II, The mission of Christ, the Redeemer, December 7, 1990, no. 37 c.
[50] Letter of October 9, 1815 in Oblate Writings I, vol. 6, no. 4, p. 6.