Whenever we talk of the missions we must begin with the mission of Christ: As the Father has sent me, so I send you. And we must recognise at the start that the missionary is not a public relations officer for any system, or government, or way of life, but a man sent by God, a man who is to be himself a true imitation of Christ. Writing to the Philippians, Paul described the nature of the mission of Christ, what it meant for Christ:

Justice and charity often seem to us to be opposites. Charity means generosity without calculation—‘Greater love hath no man than this’…; unending patience—‘Charity is patient and kind’; the forgiveness of injuries, and the renunciation of self-regarding rights. Justice, on the other hand, seems to make opposite claims. It requires us to regulate our generosity by reasonable calculation; it puts an end to patience when rights are threatened; it balances crime against punishment. Above all, it seems to be concerned with the assertion of rights, which is foreign to the spirit of charity.

The purpose of this article is to describe a course of religious instruction I have been trying out with boys from seven to twelve years old who attend non-catholic schools, and who visit me once a week. It seemed worth while to make it more widely known in this way, in case others, might like to make use of it in some way, or at least to suggest ways of improving it.

In Northern Ireland, where I have grown up and lived and worked the barriers separating Catholics and Protestants have made any kind of constructive encounter between them almost impossible. In the late 1950's there were some signs here and there that a few Protestants and Catholics were at least prepared to look at one another over the fences of deep-seated fear and distrust, but the winds of change had not then begun to blow. In the last brief year or two the God-given inspiration of Pope John has breathed its influence on a world of Christian people ready to listen, to try to understand and to accept a new attitude of mind and spirit.