As we continue reflecting on the meaning of being a missionary disciple, we are invited today into the wisdom of Pope Benedict XVI.
In the first paragraph of his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est - GOD IS LOVE, Pope Benedict XVI writes: “Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”
Being Christian is the result of the encounter with a person. Being Christian is the result of the encounter with the Person of Jesus Christ, true GOD, and true man.
Sure, in living a Christian life, one is certainly called to make ethical choices. A Christian is called to work with GOD in becoming a virtuous person. But the very core of being Christian is not the result of doing these things. The very core of being Christian is the result of encounter… an encounter with a person. Its the result of an ongoing encounter with Jesus… the result of a relationship with Him. This relationship with Christ is the heart of being Christian. Being a disciple of Christ is first about communion with Him… spending time with Him, listening to Him, sharing with Him.
And then, as our relationship with GOD grows, He and His Church invites us into a journey of holiness. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines holiness as the ‘perfection of charity’. As Christians, as men an women who have encountered, and continue to encounter, the person of Christ, we are all called to holiness… to the ‘perfection of charity’. We are created to love. And specifically called to love like GOD loves, as Jesus invites us to “love one another as I have loved you.” This is our ultimate mission. This is our highest calling… our fundamental vocation… to love like GOD.
We cannot love like GOD without GOD. We cannot give what we do not have. We cannot give what we have not received. But as we encounter Him again and again, spending regular time with the GOD who is love, He strengthens us and teaches us how to love as He does. And this is fundamental in being a missionary disciple.
A wise man once said that we are not free to look outside ourselves and take care of the person in front of us until we ourselves are taken care of. If we want to be missionaries and be able to love well the people in front of us, we must allow ourselves to be continually taken care of by the LORD and His family - His Church.
Do you believe that GOD wants to take care of you?
Do you feel taken care of by Him?
Do you feel as though you're allowing Him to take care of you?
+LORD, I ask today for the grace to know deeply your desire to take of me. Please increase my confidence in your desire …your willingness …and your excitement to take care of me. Please help me to not be afraid to ask you everyday to take care of me, confident that it is your desire. And as I feel more and more taken care of by You, help me to look outside myself, and with You, take care of the person in front of me. Amen+
Written by Roch Gernon.
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