Alright today all of you are going to take an exam. I have four questions for you. The first question: What is a disciple? What is a disciple? Yes, a disciple is follower of someone else, a follower of Jesus Christ. Second question: who are the disciples? Who are the disciples? Yes, that’s right we are disciples. Sometimes people think of the disciples as those that lived 2000 years ago when Jesus Christ engaged in his earthly ministry. No, this is false. We are all disciples of Jesus Christ. You guys are good. You’re batting a thousand. Okay, third question: what is a missionary? What is a missionary? A missionary is a person who does the mission of the Church or the mission of Jesus Christ. And last question: Who are missionaries? Who are missionaries? Yes, exactly, we are all missionaries. Often times we think that missionaries are priest’s who go to a foreign land. You know the movie the mission where Jesuit priests went to Brazil to establish missions. Or the like of St. John Brebeuf or St. Isaac Jogues, the North American Martyrs who came here to establish missions to the Native Americans. Yes, these are missionaries, but missionaries are more than just priests. Likewise missionaries are more than religious sisters or brothers, more than monks or nuns, and more than a lay person who goes to a foreign land. We are all missionaries and our homes, schools, and works are our mission field!

One of my favorite saints is St. Gianna Molla. I was in Rome when the Church

recognized officially that she is a saint through the mass of her canonization. I was intrigued by her because she was a modern woman having died in the 1960’s. I learned that as a child she always wanted to be a missionary in Brazil, however her mission field would be much closer to home. She was a lay woman, a doctor inprofession. She was married and had 4 children. She was known for her faith, prayer, and willingness to do good. In short, she was known to be a saintly woman. She died because she refused to have an abortion and kill her child so that she could live. She told the doctors to work to save them both. A healthy baby was born and 8 days later, Gianna Molla died. Around 40 years later her daughter was present at the canonization of her mother. Upon St. Gianna Molla’s death miracles started occuring in Brazil when she was invoked to aid in the healing of people. God saw to it that while she was in heaven she would be able to intervene in the lives of the very people she had wanted to go minister as a missionary.

Indeed, today’s Gospel is all about the missionary work of the disciples of Jesus Christ. The message is clear. To be a disciple is to be a missionary. I would like to offer you four main components of being a missionary. The first is a call from God. The disciples were summoned and called forth to be the bearers of the mission of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ placed the call on their hearts. I said earlier that we are all called to be missionaries. Therefore Jesus has given each of us a unique call. Each one of us. That may seem strange to some of us. Now, I am not talking about having a vision or having an apparition of Jesus like Mother Theresa did before she went down to Calcutta to serve the poorest of the poor. But, most of us experience this calling in a subtle way. It is that voice in our heads that say that we should do something. You know that voice. You have heard it before. That voice that you know is from God which tells you to go and help this person out or to listen to that person. Its that voice which says that you need to pray with a family member suffering a loss. This voice is subtle and yet profound and we all experience this throughout the day. This is God’s call for us in our own lives.

Now, I would like to tell you one of my calls from God to be a missionary. As you know, I was a missionary after College for two years in Canada before I entered the seminary. It began the summer of my third year at Texas A&M. I began to have thoughts of being a missionary full-time. I didn’t know what this meant but I do know that the thoughts became more intense. Eventually, I began praying about it during the day. It got to the point where I knew I needed to tell my parents. But before I told them, I wanted to be sure that God was calling me to this work and that this was not just a passing thought.

I went on this retreat very similar to the retreats that we have planned this August. It was an excellent retreat yet the retreat itself wasn’t of import but what was to follow. I had a study session for a major exam in solar radiation that Sunday night. I was tired from the retreat and I began to fall asleep while taking notes. Now, for me this is nothing new. I knew what it was like and my notes usually testified to it. My writing would transition to chicken scratch and eventually a line drawn across the paper ending next to a puddle of drool. You know this happened to you too. Anyhow, this time I had fallen asleep and had a dream of God. It was a good dream but could not remember it. However, when I had awoken I had written very legibly, “Luke 9:1” I thought I had been going a bit crazy from the earlier retreat and so I decided to scratch it out and kept taking notes.

The next day I was studying and I began to daydream. I began to think about being a missionary and I prayed God please show me a sign. I turned the page over and saw the words Luke 9:1. I knew instantly that God was speaking to me through this verse. You know what its like when you know the voice of the Good Shepherd. I knew and so I ran to my room looking for my bible. I opened up the bible and I turned to Luke 9:1 and I read this verse. And Jesus sent His disciples out two by two. He said take nothing with you. Go and proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God. It was the same verse that we read in today’s Gospel. God had answered my prayer decisively. He was calling me to be a full-time missionary. It took two more years for me to figure out when, where, how, and what. Eventually, I decided upon a ministry that went across canada traveling from town to town proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ. We stayed two by two in people’s houses and we ate what they gave to us. We only took one sleeping bag, a backpack, and a small suitcase. I was able to eventually minister to 15,000 youth over a 2 year period of time. All I can say was that it was amazing! So God calls some of us at times to be extraordinary missionaries like this, but ALL of us He calls to be missionaries in all of the ordinary ways in our lives.

The second aspect of being a missionary that we see is the idea of detachment. Jesus said to his apostles, “Take nothing with you, no backpack, no money, no second tunic.” By saying this, Jesus is telling us that we have to be willing to let go of that which we find is comfortable. We have to be detached from these things in our lives if we are to be Jesus’ missionaries. What are the comfortable things in your lives? Is it a television show that you have to watch. The phone rings and its your sister who has a problem and you tell her you cant talk because Dancing with the Stars is on. Is it a way of life filled with material things - I cant leave these things behind. These things bring me comfort. I know that it is a matter of detachment every time I let go of one of my books that I had read and underlined and I know that God wants someone else to read it. When I let go of this book for someone else, I am opening myself to be his missionary. It could be things, money, way of life, or even an attitude. All these things may keep us from being a missionary. What are the things that you have to let go of so that you can be a missionary of Jesus Christ?

Third, Jesus sends the apostles out. This is symbolized by the two things that the apostles can take with them. They can take their walking stick and their sandals. Both are required to move about the rocky area of Judea. Jesus sends his missionaries. This means that we are not to just sit in one place and wait for people to come to us. No, it means that we go to the people and seek to bring the message of Jesus Christ to them. Now, I am not saying that you all have to move every couple of months to a new location, but what I am saying is that we need to look for the opportunities to bring the message of Jesus to others. Maybe it is a sick person that needs a visit, perhaps its someone who lost a family member and needs support, perhaps its a friend who hasn't been to Church in a while and you invite them to come, maybe its the office worker who is asking difficult questions. We go to them - Jesus sends us to them. That is what it is to be a missionary. We need to be looking for opportunities to bring people to know Jesus Christ.

Finally, a missionary is ready to proclaim God’s kingdom and a need for repentance. We talk about all sorts of things each day. But when was the last time you talked about your faith with someone. To be a missionary is to have the words of Jesus’ truth and goodness come from our lips and tongues. We need to speak of Jesus, talk about our faith, and pray with others. Now, I am not saying that we all need to only talk about Church stuff. No! What I am saying is that if we are not able to talk about our faith, like we can argue about who is the better football player or the right politician, than we are not being a missionary and therefore are not true disciples of Jesus. We need to speak of Jesus Christ and speak of him especially when it is difficult. For some of our family members we might have to speak up so that they change their lives - so that they get to experience the goodness of a life lived with Jesus and not live in hell for eternity.

You see my friends to be a missionary is to be about the salvation of souls. As Christians, we are disciples and we are his missionaries. He calls us, helps detach us from things of comfort, sends us, and gives us the words to proclaim His truth. He equips us as his missionaries. What will your answer be? By saying yes, you might be surprised how much God helps others through you and how much he changes you in the process!