Friday, June 15, 2012

Thought of the Day

A friend had given me an article to read a while back by then Cardinal Ratzinger on the New Evangelization. I finally got around to reading it today, though, and found it extremely relevant to my time in Honduras. Some food for thought:
To evangelize means: to show this path-to teach the art of living...The deepest poverty is the inability of joy, the tediousness of a life considered absurd and contradictory. This poverty is widespread today, in very different forms in the materially rich as well as the poor countries.
Well, that is what I am going to Honduras to do. I must "surrender to the mystery of the grain of mustard seed and not be so pretentious as to believe to immediately produce a large tree." Instead, I pray that I can be a humble and patient servant of Jesus so that He can use me to do what He desires to do in the hearts of those I meet, even if that means I am led to Calvary, in a spiritual sense. But that is what it means to be a missionary. I only hope that God continues to form me so that this journey is not about me, but about Him and His work.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

And the Countdown Begins...

I just thought I would give an update since it has been a while since I have written. It is starting to sink in what I have said yes to and it is certainly a learning experience trusting in God. Also, the Missioner's formation program started yesterday. There are daily reflections based off the encyclical Redemptoris Missio and well as reflections from the Missioners of Christ. "The Church is missionary by her very nature." That was part of today's reflection. It's true. We are all called to spread the Good News, to work in God's vineyard, whether that is at home, school, or a foreign country. I pray that no matter where we are, we all let God work through us to reach the world.