The Mission

The Mission is a 1986 British film about the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th century South America. The film is set in the 1750s and involves the Jesuit Reductions, a program by which Jesuit missionaries set up missions independent of the Spanish state to teach Christianity to the natives. It tells the story of a Irish Jesuit priest, Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons), who enters the South American jungle to build a mission and convert a community of Guaraní Indians to Christianity, and of the eventual destruction of the missions by the secular Spanish and Portuguese colonial governments.

Nearly all of the film is a flashback shown while Papal emissary Cardinal Altamirano (Ray McAnally) is dictating a letter to the Pope detailing what happened. One of the first scenes is the martyrdom of a Jesuit missionary. The unnamed missionary is lashed to a cross by the Guarani Indians who live above the spectacular Iguazu Falls, and the cross is placed into the river and sent over the falls. His martyrdom inspires the gentle Father Gabriel to scale the hazardous falls and reach out to the tribe. Entering the Guarani's jungle territory, Father Gabriel sits and begins to play his oboe. Drawn to the sound, the Guarani warriors prepare to kill him, but captivated by the beauty of the music they allow him to live and he gently and gradually wins their trust.

Please sit back and listen to the haunting melody of "Gabriel's Oboe" written by Ennio Morricone:

I was curious to find an English translation of words associated with this theme, and eventually after much searching found them, and they fit so well with the whole theme of the film:

Gabriel's Oboe from The Mission

In my fantasy I see a fair world,
Where everyone lives in peace and honesty.
I dream of a place to live that is always free,
Like a cloud that floats,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul.

In my fantasy I see a bright world
Where each night there is less darkness.
I dream of spirits that are always free,
Like the cloud that floats.

In my fantasy exists a warm wind,
That breathes into the city, like a friend.
I dream of souls that are always free,
Like the cloud that floats,
Full of humanity in the depths of the soul

I'd suggest you now listen to the above video again, and this time follow the above words as the music plays - I'm sure you'll be moved by the words and the music.

Today I'd ask you to pray for all missionaries, many of whom are working far from their homeland, in terrible working conditions, and some in great personal danger.

But to be a missionary we do not need to be working far from home, as God classes us all as missionaries. God has a mission for each of us to help extend His Kingdom and bring others into a relationship with Him. He will send some of us far from home as missionaries in a foreign land, other of us He will use where we are.

I pray that today we might each accept God's mission for our lives, wherever that may take us. I pray that by accepting God's mission, we are able to bring someone into a relationship with Christ.