Dear Parishioners,

This Sunday is World Mission Sunday. On this day, we remember that one of the roles of the Church is to be Christ’s witness in the world. Being missionaries is at the heart of the Christian faith and in many ways gives us our identity. At the end of the Gospel according to Matthew, Our Lord exhorts His disciples, “Make disciples of all nations.” (Matthew 28:19) The Church has always taught that this is the duty of all Christians according to their state of life.

The world needs Christ. Whether or not the world recognizes this, it is absolutely true and apparent for those who have eyes to see. The world needs Christ because the world needs truth and love and those can only be found in the most profound sense in Our Lord. As St. Augustine teaches in his Confessions, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.” Ironically, this longing is often smothered by worldly ways and buying into destructive ideologies that seem attractive and yet do not bear life. If someone unites themselves to sin, he turns against God. But even in this case, Our Lord can cut through everything that separates someone from God.

Often when Christians speak about what is true, they are characterized as being judgmental or condemning those who they are speaking to. This attitude can especially be true if Christians do not recognize that they are sinners who also need the mercy of God. As Mother Teresa tells us, “If we judge someone, we cannot love them.” Before we can display the love of God, we need to be touched by that love ourselves. We should never think of ourselves as being higher than anyone else. We need the mercy of God first and we need to be people of humble prayer. When God looks down on us, He can see everything that He desires us to be if we cooperate with Him. So, we need to look at people as He does: as potential saints. Our role as witnesses is not to force a conversion or to condemn. Our role is to allow others to know the love of God and to pray for them. Then, if they are open, God can do great things with their lives.

In the back of the church’s gathering area, you may notice that I have ordered new brochures from the St. Paul Street Evangelization Center. They range in topics from “Salvation” to “Confession” to “How to Pray the Rosary” to “Common Objections.” If you find any of these helpful or you know someone who could use the message in them, feel free to take one. Sometimes we do not know what words to say when we talk about the faith. But, I think these pamphlets are great conversation starters and explain the faith well. So, even if you feel odd sharing the faith, you may want to give someone a pamphlet a read.

Lastly, also to help promote the faith, the second collection will be for the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. The Society promotes missionary work throughout the world. (Normally, the second collection is for our school.)

Peace,

Fr. Carter