"There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved"(Acts 4:12). When St Peter healed a man born a cripple and seated at the entrance of the Temple called the beautiful gate, in the name of Jesus, the chief priests, the officers of the Temple and Saduccees captured Peter and John. Making them stand in their midst, they questioned them. "By what power or by what name did you do this?" Peter answered, "Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead"(Acts 4:10). Yes, Jesus alone can give complete healing to us. That is why we should proclaim that Jesus Christ is the only Saviour and the only way to salvation. However, we do not, in fact, have the conviction that there is no salvation through anyone else. The Jews were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, both uneducated and ordinary men. Peter was brave enough to speak thus because he was "filled with the Holy Spirit." No one can say Jesus is Lord except through the Holy Spirit.

Have we not received the Holy Spirit? The same power that strengthened the Apostles has filled us too through Baptism and Confirmation. Why then do we not have the same boldness? How many of us today can speak the name of Jesus boldly as did the Apostles? If we cannot, it is because we have not received the Holy Spirit in his fullness or, it may be that we put obstacles to his working. One who sins deliberately puts obstacles to his activity.

Many of us worship any number of gods and goddesses: alcohol, drugs, wealth, power and position, recognition, worldly pleasures, witchcraft and other demi-gods. Intellectuals, theologians and believers who consider Jesus as only one among several saviours are also not rare. When the uneducated, timid Apostles were filled with the Holy Spirit and became convinced that Jesus is the only Saviour, they went about all over the world to share the salvation they had come to experience. They were able to proclaim boldly that salvation is only through Jesus and lay down their lives for this faith and led thousands to salvation. No barrier of language, distance,climate or persecution by the enemies of the Church could turn them away from the performance of their holy mission.

"Go into all the world and proclaim the good news to the whole creation"(Mk 16:15). This command is given to all the followers of Jesus. Not only to priests and nuns. If only we were aware of this fact, the situation in India with only two and a half percent of Christians as of now would have been different. Without this awareness Christu Jayanthi celebrations will be meaningless and the exhortation of the Holy Father to spread the good news to the ends of the earth by 2000 AD will remain a mirage. The seminars held, the money or time spent will be fruitless. Therefore the great truth that Jesus is the only Saviour and that there is no salvation except through Jesus must be proclaimed. The proclamation of the Gospel is not one of the many things we have to do. Rather, it is high time for all who believe in Christ-the laity, priests and nuns and prayer groups to come forward to intercede with tears before the presence of God that every Christian may be deepened in the conviction that this is the most important duty that lies before him or her. At the same time it is necessary to correct the view that it is enough to live in an exemplary manner in the situation where one is placed and that there is no need to go to mission lands to spread the Gospel. At least one person from a family should be a full-time evangelist to go to the five and a half lakh villages in India and to other countries of the world and proclaim the Gospel with courage and zeal. Those who cannot go to mission lands and work as front line warriors must be ready to help the work of evangelization through their prayers and wealth. If St Thomas or St Francis Xavier or foreign missionaries thought that giving a good example in society was enough , there would not have been a single Christian in India today. Nor in other parts of the world.

We must pray that individuals, parishes and religious communities be ready to spend at least one tenth of their income and talents for the work of evangelisation. Let this year's Mission Sunday observance be an occasion for this purpose.