The Christian Mission

In today's Gospel of Luke, we learn how Jesus expects us to spread the Good News to others. We generally think of missionaries as people who give up their normal lives and travel to some distant country to carry out the mission of the Church. What we don't always remember is that for most of us, our mission to spread the Gospel of Love is to be carried out right here where we live.

Even in our own neighborhoods, it is important to recognize that "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few..." When Jesus sent out the disciples to spread the Good News, he sent them out in pairs. This was not done for companionship only, but because missionary work requires collaboration and teamwork. It was also the missionaries' responsibility to bring people together; to build one people in the spirit of love.

Our responsibility is to be an active participant in whatever way we can. For some, it might be to knock on doors and meet our neighbors. For others, it might be to unite in prayer for the success of the mission. It definitely means that we are to act out our faith in whatever circumstances we find ourselves; to show by the way we live that our lives belong to God.

It won't always be easy either. We know that some of the disciples who went on their mission were rejected by the people to whom they wished to preach the Good News. Jesus had said: "...behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves." However, even though some towns rejected them, the seventy-two disciples came back rejoicing because of the success they had among the people.

Jesus reminds us that when we are successful in our Christian Mission, our rejoicing should not be because of our successes but because our names will be written in heaven.

In the words of the psalmist:

"Come and see the works of the Lord, his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam."