Our mission

 This is my homily for this past Sunday, the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B.  The readings for this weekend are here.  

One of my children graduated from college this past December.  He got hired by a company which needed him to relocate to South Dakota.  So one weekend last spring he moved out of his college housing, found a new place to live, and showed up for his first day of work at his new job in a new town, knowing absolutely nobody.  i am sure he was petrified.  This is how we kick off the next chapter in the story of our lives.

His life has changed dramatically in a short time.  For the previous few years, he had been a college student.  By his senior year in college, he had the college routine down pat: show up for class, get the homework and papers done, hop into the pool for water polo practices and tournaments, hang out with his friends.  It was very organized and structured, and supportive, and comfortable.  Money wasn’t much of a consideration: whatever and whoever needed to be paid, seemed to get paid without his having to do much to make it happen.  In that structured, supportive environment, my son thrived – he succeeded.  We're very proud of him for doing so well.

But the thing about college is, it’s not meant to last forever, no matter how enjoyable and fulfilling it is.  If you visit the websites of colleges and universities, you can see that every one of them has a mission statement.  Undoubtedly, committees and consultants have spent many hours crafting and fine tuning those mission statements.  But when it comes to undergraduates, I don’t need a high-powered consultant to tell me a college’s mission: it is to take in a new class of freshmen every fall so that, in four or so years, it can push them out again, on to the next stage of their lives.  Ideally, after four years of education and the college experience, those undergraduates will have changed, grown and matured, and they’ll be ready for that next stage.  Colleges take us into their nests so that, in a few years, we’ll be ready to leave the nest.  College isn’t the end; it’s a means to the end.  The end is beyond college.

Today’s Gospel reading is a sort of graduation ceremony.  Today, Jesus pushes the Twelve out of the nest.  Up till then, they had been disciples, following him, witnessing his mighty deeds, listening to his teachings, observing his conflicts with the authorities.  He led, they followed.  And things seemed to work out.

But that arrangement wasn’t to last forever.  It turns out, he was training them – he was preparing them for their mission.  And today, we witness a big transition day for them: they’re being sent out into the world.  For them, it was time to stop learning about the mission, and time to start doing it.  

At present, my son is in one of those curious interludes in his life’s journey, in which he’s completed one mission (graduate from college, get a job), but he’s not entirely sure yet what his next mission is going to be.  For now, he’s focused on learning to be an adult: going to work every day, settling into office life, learning his new profession, making sure he is paying his bills on time.  In a few months, he’ll need to figure out how to get car insurance.  Maybe in another year or two, he’ll need to buy a car.  He’s getting the hang of some basic adult life skills, and maybe that’s enough for now.  

Still, I sense he’s feeling that he’s in a bit of an in-between time.  I don’t think he’s quite figured out yet what his big purpose in life is going to be.  He doesn’t think South Dakota is in his long-term future.  His next big mission hasn’t really begun yet - it hasn't gelled yet in his imagination, and turned into a life narrative.

The fact is, we all need a mission, a purpose, in our lives.  When we don’t have a purpose around which to organize and plan our lives, we’re like becalmed sailing vessels – we’re adrift in a vast sea, not sure where to go or what to do.  During those moments when we’re adrift, it’s then that we’re especially at risk of lapsing into sinful ways.

Of course, we disciples have a mission.  Our mission is Jesus.  Jesus is our purpose.  Jesus is the person around whom we are to organize our lives.  He is the goal toward which we are to sail.  Jesus is our way, our truth and our life.

That is why, when Jesus sent the Twelve forth, he told them to bring almost nothing – not even food.  They were to trust in God for food, lodgings and other necessities.  He didn’t want them to obsess over some of those lesser things.  One of the ways we can find ourselves adrift, and lose sight of our mission, is when we organize our lives around worldly cares and desires.  Those lesser things become our mission.  By sending the Twelve forth with nothing, Jesus was seeking to ensure that they would prioritize his mission over all those competing worldly cares.

For the Twelve, that mission was to proclaim some Good News: that the coming of Jesus is a time of forgiveness of sins; it’s a time of healing; it’s a time when the evil powers which rule our world are routed and driven out, to make way for a new kingdom, and a new king: a king who brings forgiveness, and healing, and justice, and peace.   

What is your mission in life?  Have you organized your life around Jesus and his mission, or is it organized around something else – perhaps something lesser, like worldly treasure?  All of us who believe have been given the same sacred mission: to proclaim, to forgive, to heal, to stand against evil in the world.  

There are as many ways to go about fulfilling this mission as there are people here tonight.  We may be called to be wellsprings of forgiveness and healing and peace within our families; many families are badly in need of forgiveness, healing and peace.   Speaking of my own situation: I spend my working life in the corporate world. Of course, I do this because I have bills to pay.  But I really think God wants me where I am in order to be a bringer of peace and healing, and even justice and forgiveness, to the workplace; many workplaces can be dysfunctional, vindictive and in need of these spiritual gifts.  Some of us may be called to bring our spiritual gifts into the community, into the public square.  Over the years, some St. Edna parishioners have given public service to our communities.  Our communities also are in need of forgiveness, healing and peace.  Even the church needs these spiritual gifts.

Whatever our stage or role in life, whether it’s student, or worker, or homemaker, or retired person, or someone who is unemployed and not completely sure what to do with his or her life, our true mission is to bring our spiritual gifts to those whom we encounter, who are in need of them.  This is how we build God’s kingdom, one person, one family, one relationship at a time.  Jesus is sending us forth.  Let’s arrange our lives to fulfill the mission he’s given us.