On Being Missionaries...

How come you’re here?  Why do you come to this place to worship the Lord?  It seems to me it is for the same reason the disciples came to Jesus.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, right after John the Baptist has called  Jesus “the Lamb of God…[he] who takes away the sins of the world,” two of the Baptist’s disciples began to follow Jesus.  One of them was Andrew, who, after meeting Jesus, goes to find his brother Peter, and brings him to Jesus.

The next day, Jesus goes to the Sea of Galilee and finds Phillip, who in turn, goes out and finds Nathanael, who he brings to Jesus, and Nathanael follows him.

So there is only one way to become a disciple: to meet Jesus.

Now, for most of us, the one who literally carried us to Jesus was the one who gave us birth.

You’ve probably seen pictures of it, or at least heard stories of the day your parents and godparents first brought you to Church.  “What do you ask of God’s Church for your child,” the priest asked them. And from that day they sought to introduce you to life in Christ.  They were the first missionaries you knew, and they led you to Jesus.

There are more exotic missionaries, as well.  Like Sister Veronica and Sister Maria Louisa, who came to us from an International community founded to bring Jesus to people far far away.  One was born in Italy ad the other in Mexico, and they came to Worcester, to lead us and all the the other little missionaries to Jesus, that we might have a personal relationship with him.

Fr. Mark Marangone, s.x., Provincial of the Xavarian Missionaries, was with us a couple weeks ago when Bishop McManus honored Sister Maria Louisa.  Fr. Mark once wrote that the job of each Baptized man and woman is to “make of the world one family” by leading each man and woman to Jesus.

Each one of us knows someone who needs to be led to Jesus.  Maybe it’s a friend or a co-worker.  Maybe it’s a son or daughter who has stopped going to Church.  Each one of us are called to be missionaries, leading people to Jesus.

But who am I to be a missionary, you might say?  

You know who you are? You are just like Saint Andrew.  Of all the Apostles, Andrew is one of the least known.  He is only mentioned by name in twelve verses of the Bible, and in eight of those he is simply referred to as Peter's brother.  He is nearly always mentioned second and wasn’t even included among those closest to Jesus.  His only claim to fame was that he brought people to Jesus.  He started with his brother.  And then, when the young boy with 5 loaves and 2 small fish came to him, he brought the boy to Jesus.  And when there were some Greeks who were looking for Jesus, it seems Philip didn't know what to do, but Andrew took them to Jesus.

We don’t have to be heroic or members of a world-wide missionary order.  We don’t need new languages or great stamina.  What we need is such a love for Jesus Christ that we want to lead people to him.

That’s how we live as Missionary Disciples, obedient to Jesus’ command to "Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you."

The patron of this Cathedral Church was made the first Missionary Disciple when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus in a dramatic conversion.  From that point on, his life was one long series of relationships, who he introduced to Jesus.

Like Barnabas, in the bottom left of the great Missionary window, who introduced Paul to Peter and became his constant companion in leading people to Jesus.  

That’s them on the bridge, a little further up, heading to Antioch on their missionary journey, in search of people to lead to Jesus. 

Among their first converts was Barnabas’ young cousin, John Mark, whom you see in a boat with Paul and his Uncle on the way to Salamis in the Mediterranean Sea.

They passed through the whole island of Cyprus where they were less than successful at converting a sorcerer named Elymas (he’s he one embraced by a big green snake), although Paul is seen above him trying his best to get him to know the Lord.

John Mark went home (that’s a story for another day), but there near the top left of the window you can see the tiny figures of Paul and Barnabas in the mountains of Pisidia.

Then at the bottom of the middle of the window Paul is in Lystra, where he told the story of Jesus to a man who had never been able to walk before. But when Paul commanded him in the name of Jesus to walk, the man sprang up and began to dance.

The crowds grew very excited, and no matter what Paul said, they tried to worship him and Barnabas as Gods.  You can see them sacrificing a bull to them. There’s a good lesson here for missionaries: Always remember that missionary work is never about the missionary, but only about Jesus.  The missionary, like John the Baptist, must decrease, that the people might come to know Jesus alone.

Maybe to remind him of this, God allowed Paul to experience many failures, including the time they stoned him and left him for dead, with the dogs sniffing at his carcas. You can see Barbabas dragging Paul’s limp body away by a golden chain.

Above that Paul sets out on his second missionary journey through modern day Syria where, in the company of Silas and Luke he meets Lydia, a seller of purple dye (yup, she’s the one in the purple), whom Paul Baptizes in the name of Jesus, along with her household, two of whom are sitting at their feet. 

But then Paul encounters a quite different woman, a fortune teller who was possessed by a demon.  We can see Paul exorcising her with Silas standing behind him. 

But Paul and Silas suffered for exorcising the girl, as her friends rose up and threw them into prison (if you look closely, you can see rats and spiders in the prison), but then you see the two disciples miraculously freed from their chains.

We could go on and one (and we will in a video we are preparing on these wonderful windows), but let’s stop with the image of Saint Paul in glory at the top, as he looks across the Church at Jesus.  For all the missionary journeys were about introducing people to Jesus, just as we are called to do.

It’s like Saint Paul wrote to the young Bishop Timothy in words we heard just a few minutes ago.  As he spoke to Timothy, so he says to us:

“I charge you in the presence of God 

and of Christ Jesus,

who will judge the living and the dead…

proclaim the word;

be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;

convince, reprimand, 

encourage through all patience and teaching.”

Proclaim the Word, who is Jesus the Lord.