To be a missionary is the vocation of every baptized Christian. Our Lord calls each one of us and not only the “pastors” or the “good sisters”! The Bible cannot be more clear (Cor 1 9, 16): “For if I preach the Gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting; for necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.”
When missionaries leave their families, their friends, their country, their language, their culture… all of this should strike us, it should not leave us indifferent. They should give us the example of our own call (vocare means call): to witness to our Faith in Jesus Christ, Son of God, who died and resurrected for us.
This is our faith! He saved us from death and He invites us to participate in His Divine Life, to love Him fully. Let us be witnesses, because this should inflame us! Let us leave everything; home, country, friends… and even our own life.
Our vocation is to become saints: “Do not be afraid to become the saints of the third Millennium,” reminded Bl. Pope John Paul II. But we are afraid. Of what? If we wish to be open to the world, we cannot forget that, if we are of the world, yet still we are not from the world. (Jn 15,19) So, we must not have a weak Faith in God, a faith that is without conviction or a passive Faith. Do not forget that He is Love. Let us not waste our time searching for the speck in our brother’s eye! Love first, than do as you wish. Love, and search for the speck in your brother’s eye, but this should come from the love that you have for him, then it will go well…
Let us not hesitate to throw ourselves into the ocean of tenderness where the Lord is waiting for us, under the generous gaze of the Virgin Mary.
Why speak about Jesus?
The Mission is not a private hunt, reserved for specialists, to professionals in the Faith; it is the work of each person. “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.” (Mt 28, 19)
To speak about Jesus is not to honor yourself but on the contrary it is to erase yourself. So, simply try to be His voice. There is no merit for ourselves in this: when we love, we like to talk about the one we love! So, I love to speak about Jesus and I do not wish to speak anything contradictory about Him.
Our world today needs a strong, forceful and living Word. A Word that loves. Jesus, Himself, hanging from the gibbet of the Cross. The living Word, the resurrected Jesus. The Word that draws us upwards, that takes you from where you are in your life and gives you a special dignity.
“No-one has condemned you?” “No-one, Lord.” “Then neither do I condemn you, go, but sin no more.” (Jn 8, 10-11)
This is what we need, words of love. “So Jesus fixed his regard on him, and he loved him.” (Mk 10,21) May we, as Christians, give a look of love to those whom we meet, at the example of Christ.
When we can act, let us act! Let us not “look up into the Heavens or the clouds” expecting God to do the work for us (cf. Acts 1, 11).
Let us act with love, which means with firmness and mercy (that takes on the misery of the heart, a sharing), by love and through love, Amen!
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