Missionary Life

Haiti 

We had a mission priest from Japan this past weekend at my parish (he is in Japan but very much not Japanese).  During his homily he said something that caught me and has really been sticking with me.  He said....

"Being a missionary is going where you are unwanted and needed and leaving when you are wanted and not needed."

It is no secret that I am discerning a future as a nurse missionary in Haiti, or wherever the Lord decides he wants me, in the way that people typically think when they think of missionary.  However, that isn't the point I am going after today.  We are all missionaries.

Our current American culture is sad-porn, abortion, artificial contraception, fatherless homes, violence, faithlessness, materialism, greed, do you want me to go on?   Our society is yearning for Truth and they don't even know it.  Step on a typically college campus and you will find most students living from one binge drinking night out to the next, sleeping around, and without any focus or self worth.  Our world needs us.  They need us to live the Truth with joy, they need us to be willing to share our Faith, and they need us to have a personal relationship with the Lord so that we are able to show them what a relationship with the Lord is.

Our society doesn't want us.  They enjoy living instant gratification, pay check to pay check, and all about "me" lifestyles, because, well, it seems easier and seems more fun.  However, the common lifestyle of our culture can leave anyone empty, lonely, and despairing.  Our culture doesn't want us, but they need us.  Be a missionary today and show the people around what it means to live the Truth joyfully in a personal relationship with the Lord.    Because until we are unneeded and wanted we need to live a missionary life today, wherever we are and whatever we are doing.