Meditation V

We all have a share in the Mission. We're all called bear witness to the Lord. What a joy it is that we can share in his redemption of the world!

The Word Among Us explains:

"Maybe you don’t feel like a hero or a person with a great mission either. But how do you know that God isn’t calling you to be one of the church’s great heroes and saints? One thing is certain: God has a specific plan and calling for you. He has commissioned you to serve him as an indispensable minister of the gospel—perhaps in your family, at work, in school, around town, in prison, in your parish, or in some combination of these settings. Believe it or not, God wants to use you to build his kingdom!

Of course, not everybody is a pastor or an apostle. But have you ever considered whether God is calling you to other ministries which are important, but less obvious? Take intercession: How would the church survive without people who give themselves to prayer? Perhaps you have a gift for forming young people so that they can come to know God in a personal way. If you have a heart for service, you can inspire others by the way you do even the smallest job in the church with joy."

And what is the nature of Christ's redemption? It's the liberation of all from our insidious enslavement to sin. It's our alleviation from the clinging fingers of darkness. It's our freedom from the worship of nothing.

One Bread, One Body has more:

Have you come out of the darkness of the tomb into the light of the resurrection this Easter season? Isn't that what Easter is all about? For example, John Mark moved from darkness into light. He accompanied Paul and Barnabas on the relief mission for starving Jerusalem (Acts 12:25). He also accompanied them on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:5). The first encounter on that first journey was traumatic. Elymas "the Magician" was struck blind and Sergius Paulus the governor was converted to Jesus (Acts 13:11-12). Possibly this was too much for Mark so he abandoned ship and quit his mission (Acts 13:13). He was in the darkness of fear and unfaithfulness.

Mark eventually returned to missionary work as Barnabas' partner. He later put together the earliest Gospel. In his Gospel, he highlights Jesus' healings of the blind (Mk 8:22; 10:46). The very circumstance that may have traumatized him is now lifted up to the glory of God. Mark is an Easter person out of the dark tomb of fear into the risen light.

What do we do, however, when we don't want to become free?

It happens. Sometimes we convince ourselves that we're happier in the mud. Sometimes we honestly are. The truth may set us free, but that doesn't mean it will do so gently. We may hold back because we can't handle the pain of liberation. It's our new birth, after all, and when was birth ever comfortable?

What do we do in those circumstances?

We pray for God's mercy. We pray that we discover how much we're kidding ourselves. We pray that he graces us with the conviction of sin we require to want to change.

Then, we fight. We struggle against our complacency. We resist our "business as usual" thinking. We attack our determination to remain enslaved.

Because, in the end, only the mission matters.

If we're not participating in it, we're missing out on the Raison D'etre of our lives.

Why would we want that?