In the Spring of 2010 I had the pleasure of spending a semester studying abroad. During this time, I took a week with some friends and went to Madrid, Spain to spend some time working with the Missionaries of Charity (most commonly known as Mother Teresa's order). I was excited to go and do this work, but had no idea what to expect.
Our team arrived late on Sunday evening, and early Monday morning half of us needed to report to the missionaries to help them, the other half taking a later shift that day. As one of our two "team leaders," I decided that I would go with, although I was planning to work the afternoon shift that day. We arrived a bit late (we were Americans in Europe, so of course we got lost a couple of times), and walked in during Mass. After Mass was over, the sisters quickly hurried to get to work, while a couple of them came to welcome us and take us into another room where they could serve us breakfast. Without the time to fight it, I was given instructions to follow one of the sisters to another building, where I would spend the next few hours helping in an AIDs Hospice house that they had there. Little did I realize, this place would be the central part of my work for that week-helping to dress, bathe, and care for these men and the place in which they lived-and a major moment in my life. While certainly not what I was expecting to do coming into the trip, I have never had an experience since those few days which impacted me in a way that even compares.
This Sunday, October 20th, 2013, is World Missions Sunday. If you want to read what Pope Francis says about this (you do want to read it, by the way), you can read his Message for World Missions Sunday. I am writing this blog to join with Family Missions Company, an organization committed to calling people to go out on mission, in helping to encourage Catholics to take up their call to mission-you can find their website at www.fmcmissions.com.
You see, what I learned in Spain that week was the importance of always being on mission. The AIDs Hospice was in a dire situation that week because it was holy week, and the sisters didn't have enough volunteers to take care of the men currently housed there. If myself and the other male in our group hadn't shown up, they told us, they would have struggled to care for these men. While I feel very blessed that I had the opportunity to step into that role, it was also shocking to hear them say that; in one of the largest cities in Europe, these missionaries couldn't find 2 men on an average day to give some time to serve these people in need.
In John 13:33-34, Jesus tells His disciples that He will only be with them a little while longer, but after He leaves that they are to "love one another; even as I have loved you" (RSV Translation). In Matthew 28:19, Jesus tells His disciples to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always to the close of the age" (RSV).
Jesus' words in those two passages are very simple: you need to go out, you need to love all people, and you need to bring them the Truth. If those words were meant to end with the Disciples, they would have had no reason to write them down. If those words were unimportant, the Disciples and the other thousands (millions) of Christians who have been martyred since that day for this message would have done so in vain. If you're like me, you probably don't think these actions were in vain. In fact, if you're like me, you probably feel that this call to mission is a slap in the face reminding, you that you need to do a better job of knowing you're on mission, and living accordingly.
In honor of World Mission Sunday this year, I want to commit myself to remember that I am on a mission. Do I think that, right now, this means God is calling me to pick up and move to a foreign country? No, I certainly don't--but that does not mean I am not on mission. My mission, just like that of the Disciples, is to go out and bring the Gospel to people with love. For the Disciples and for people today, that might mean to bring the Gospel for the end of the world. For others, this might very well mean staying in your hometown and bringing the Gospel with love and sincerity; whatever the case, it is a mission.
No matter where our mission, it is not an easy job, and not one that is going to be accepted readily. The place most in need of a missionary might be your home, your workplace, your friendships; maybe, for you, the place that you are called to serve with love and truth is in a foreign country, and maybe it's not. Maybe you need to make a mess to call people around you to live the Gospel, or you need to help people clean up their messy lives to see God's plan behind it all. It doesn't matter where you are called, all that matters is that today and every day you are willing to pick up your cross and be the Lord's missionary.
"Christ has no body now, but yours. No hands, no feet on earth, but yours. Yours are the eyes through which Christ looks compassion into the world. Yours are the feet with which Christ walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which Christ blesses the world."
--St. Theresa of Avila, Patroness of Missions
No comments:
Post a Comment