Greetings of love and peace in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ from the Council for World Mission!
I am glad to present the 2023 Sundays with CWM, a weekly devotional of the CWM. This devotional aims to provide spiritual accompaniment to all the readers—individuals, families, and congregations—and serve as a pastoral recourse to all those who seek inspiration from the stories of faith. This devotional also aims to provoke missional thinking through biblical and theological reflections on various challenges the global and local communities, including the creation, face.
The theme of this booklet, “Rising up and Journeying Together,” is a prophetic call for all the readers to embark upon a missional journey in solidarity with the most vulnerable resisting the life-threatening forces and affirming life for all.
The world today is threatened by numerous forms of life-denying forces that exploit resources, oppress the poor and weak, and create divisions in societies causing wars and conflicts. In the midst of all these life-threatening forces, the scripture says that Jesus comes to give life in its abundance to all. “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10). As the disciples of Jesus, who came to give life, we need to proclaim this good news to everyone. The proclamation of such good news is that God affirms hope over despair, and life over death, transforming the lives of the poor, the oppressed, and the victimised. This proclamation requires us to not only rise up from the forces of enslavement, destruction and death but also to walk in solidarity with the vulnerable in a journey towards affirming the abundant life that Christ came to give us all. Therefore, we must commit ourselves to the mission of rising up and journeying together towards creating life-giving alternatives and fostering life-flourishing communities in solidarity with others, life-flourishing creation in solidarity with the planet earth and life-flourishing economy in solidarity with the vulnerable.
As you take upon the journey and walk with many others in commitment, I pray that these weekly reflections may provide you with constant encouragement throughout the year to not only cling on to faith in God but also to put that faith into action.
May 2023 be a year of blessings and transformation for us all.
Jooseop Keum
General Secretary
Council for World Mission