Being a Missionary

"Go, therefor, and make disciples of all nations" (Mt 28: 19).

Yesterday in the Catholic Church we celebrated Mission Sunday. For a change I went to mass in the Cathedral not my own parish. Well okay, not cause i felt like a change but I was away and could not get mass in my parish so the Cathedral mass when I got home was where I went. The priest who presided over the mass was not a missionary priest, nor did a missionary priest give the homily. Many years ago the priest did spend about 6 weeks in Nigera, a kind of a fly on the wall thing i think. During his homily he spoke about how the missionary priests and nuns were sharing God with the people and helping them in the hospitals. His homily got me thinking yet again about my time out in Uganda but also,what does in mean to be a religious missionary?

in the early days of the missions religious people went out to share and teach the people about God. They still do this today. However, sometimes people have to be careful how they go about it. In some parts of the world people are not allowed to practice religion, for example in China. Generally i think that lay people going out to 3rd world countries go out to help the communities practically rather than teach them about God. I was told while out there not to preach. I am not entirely sure where that came from but okay, whatever peels your banana. being a religious missionary does not always mean that you have to talk about God or other things religious. for me people can learn a lot about God by our actions. I believe that we are called to be missionaries of God by showing God's love to those we work with. As the line in the song goes, 'let me be as Christ to you'. So we can teach people about God without preaching and using words. Let us be as Christ to others and show them God rather than tell them about God and the Kingdom. This was certainly what i aimed to do while in St Noa's and not just because I was told not to preach. I was kind, compassionate etc to those I met. in this way i aimed to show the love to these kids and staff that i imagined god would show them. As I taught a bit of religion while in the school I did get to talk to the kids a little bit about God. I was teaching from a book so I stayed within their curriculum. i just expanded at times drawing on what I learned in school and what i am learning in college.

While Mission Sunday in the church is mainly concerned with the foreign missions we must remember that mission starts at home for each and every one of us. From a religious viewpoint i think of the Kiltegans who have returned to Ireland. Some of these are based in parishes or other roles in Ireland. This is their mission at this time, to teach the Irish about God and journey with them. But being a missionary is not solely for priests, religious brothers and religious sisters, each and every one of us has a mission and this mission starts at home in our own families, in our own communities. You do not have to go to a foreign country to be a missionary, be a missionary exactly where you are at this moment in time.