For the Missions (08/05/2025)

When I was growing up and attending Catholic elementary school, I was asked to do lots of things that were not my idea of a good time. The good sisters had advice for me when that happened; they’d smile and tell me “Offer it up to the missions.”

I was sure, as I was growing up, that I would reach an age when I wouldn’t have to do things I didn’t enjoy or look forward to doing. Boy, when I’m wrong, I’m really wrong. I found that adulthood actually brought with it more times and tasks that I have had to just “offer it up to the missions.” It is a part of life, doing the necessary but not necessarily enjoyable.

I was thinking about that yesterday as I worked on a task I have been able to avoid for weeks but couldn’t anymore. I started working and even told myself out loud, “Offer it up to the missions.” And then I started to really think about the missions, about their work, the hardships missionaries endure, the dangers, the needs that they don’t always have the means to meet. And suddenly my mind shifted and remembered something my Grandma Lena told me years ago about the needs of others and our responsibilities to act.

Grandma Lena and I were talking one day and Grandma Lena reminded me that every community, every neighborhood, every family has members who are in need. And she told me it was her understanding that it is our job to help our neighbor like the good Samaritan. “Take care of the ones you can see,” she told me.  And I thought about it.  If we all did that, if we took care of our family, of our neighbor, of our town folk what a difference that would make.

But Grandma Lena warned me that there are problems with that approach because people often won’t tell you about their need. So, we need to be observant, even vigilant. And we need to be open to helping when we see a need.

Most people I know would help another if asked, but in our modern world, we often aren’t as aware of the person next to us as we are our phone screen. We’re missing a lot. We’re not recognizing need when it shows itself in our homes, our neighborhoods, our communities.

“Offer it up to the mission” is still good advice, reminding us that there are others who are doing the work around the world for others in need. But have we abdicated a responsibility in our immediate environment that the LORD, Jesus Christ, expects us to fulfill lovingly?

The world the LORD created is one huge mission. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, has an ongoing salvific mission that He calls us to, to bring Him to others and others to Him through loving care, through kindnesses, through presence. Maybe we could and should start considering ourselves “on mission” in our own hometowns, looking for needs, seeking to address them, and giving parts of ourselves and our lives to them.

I think about the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The Good Samaritan didn’t just care for the man and get him to an inn. He cared for him through the night at the inn and paid for the man to stay at the inn. And then he gave money to the innkeeper to continue that care in his absence. And finally, he offered to pay any additional costs upon his return. Jesus’ story tells us that we need to not only address a real need in the moment but linger and care beyond that until the need is gone.

What started as a mental diversion during a dreaded chore suddenly began to open up for me possibilities I’d never thought of and commitment to others in need I don’t know I’ve really given. Isn’t the LORD amazing how He can take something we don’t want to do, stir in a piece of advice from our past, give it a little time, and let the Spirit knead our hearts, and we come around to seeing the very thing He’s been trying to show us but we’ve ignored so long and so well?

As we continue on our journeys, when there are tasks we don’t want to do, we can do them lovingly and offer them up to the missions, but we can also remind ourselves that the LORD in calling us asked us to join Him on mission. May we be on the lookout for those in need of our help or of the good news and be willing to share both.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.