15th Sunday B

YOUR MISSION STARTS HERE, RIGHT NOW

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Before I became a priest, I had a friend named Dindo, who was also about to become a priest himself.  We were ordained priests in the same year and soon I found myself working in Manila while Dindo became a missionary and was sent to Togo, Africa.  We still see each other when he comes home for his vacation, once every five years.

Filipino Catholics admire missionaries.  We are proud of the foreign missionaries who came to our shores and helped evangelize our people.  We are even prouder of our own Filipino missionaries bravely working abroad.  We imagine them crossing expansive rivers, hiking up mountains, living with tribal peoples in the jungles, eating exotic cuisine and dancing through the liturgy. And it is true that we must continue to love and support our missionaries because the world needs them today more than ever.

The gospel speaks of that precious moment when after the disciples learned at the feet of the Master, they were now sent “two by two” to preach and to liberate people from sickness and evil. The disciples of Jesus were the fist real missionaries sent by Jesus into the waiting world.  Later on missionary priests and nuns followed in their footsteps in bringing the presence of Christ to others.  Some trained lay people are now doing overseas mission work alongside our priests and sisters.

But missionaries are not people we merely watch as they volunteer to serve the Lord and the poor peoples of the world. Missionaries are ALL OF US here…today.  Christians are the modern disciples of the Lord, and Jesus does not cease to send us - one by one, two by two, three by three, family by family, community by community - to accomplish our mission from him.

Many people will not go to foreign missions but will engage in “domestic mission.”  It would be a mistake to think that mission can only happen for a person who goes abroad.  Mission is where Jesus wants us to spread the fragrance of his love.  You won’t believe it, but you are a missionary in your country, in your village, in your office or school and most of all, at home.  If we are sensitive Christians, then we will realize that Jesus invites us to take up some important mission where we are and right now.

My friend was planning to volunteer to a distant island to help out in the work of the local diocese there.  He established contacts, prepared what he needed and got ready for his adventure.  Then suddenly, his father was diagnosed with cancer.  He wavered between his decision to proceed to his mission area or to stay behind to look after his father.  After much prayer, he realized the Lord was telling him to serve his father.  In just a few short months, his father passed away and he was so glad he decided to stay with him.

Jesus did not encourage his disciples to be complicated missionaries but simple ones – no food, no sack, no money, no second tunic. That means they were not to be preoccupied with the big concerns.  Rather they were to be sensitive to the needs of the people, at the moment.  I’m sure if we strive to be like that, we will discover that our mission is not complicated. We are missionaries to people we already know, in situations we already experience.