We All Live in Mission Territory

"The minute you walk outside of your Church on Sunday you’re in mission territory.” (Bishop Robert Barron)

The whole world has now become mission territory. There are many people who have no relationship with Christ, and do not associate themselves with any organized religion. There is another group of individuals who are baptized Catholics who have either fallen away from the Church. The latter feel that they can have Christ without the Church, and do not understand that the head and the body are always connected as Christ is the Head of the Body, the Church. And as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, we are the Church, and embrace our Church as whole, which includes all of the teachings of the Catholic Church. The Catholic faith is not only a religion, but a relationship between all of the members of the Church with one another, and with Christ. 

Who is Jesus to us? Where do we even begin in describing the Son of Man? There are a myriad of thoughts which come to mind when left to ponder such a question. Can our finite minds come up with the words that are deserving enough to even describe Him? How can we really and truly find the words to accurately describe our Lord, Jesus Christ, and what He means to us? There are no words that will ever be satisfactory or worthy enough. 

Jesus Christ is my Savior; He is my true Beloved, the one who gave up His life for me so that I can be happy and spend eternity with His Father in Heaven. As the Son having two natures He is both True God and True man as Perfect God and Perfect Man Who is beside me every single day of my life; through times of joy and times of sorrow. I experience His love, consolation, and compassion in the Eucharist as I receive his 'Real Presence' during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and adore His Eucharistic Face. Because of the gift of my Catholic faith I believe that the bread and wine by the power of the Holy Spirit transform upon the altar into the Flesh and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is at the consecration where Heaven kisses the Earth, and we receive a foretaste of the Kingdom to Come. Christ wants our hearts to burn with the understanding of Who and What the Eucharist is; the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ.

It is by receiving Christ's Precious Body and Blood, and by adoring Him in the Eucharist, that we are strengthened in virtue and can turn away from temptation, which enables us to persevere in our faith, and live out the Gospel values in our world today. By receiving Christ as nourishment for our body and souls, and spending time with Him in the quiet of our own hearts we receive a Love that of which we can only give by receiving first and foremost. How can we share the Love of Christ with others if we are not open to receiving His Love first? 

The New Evangelization calls for us to go out to the ends of the earth proclaiming the Good News. We can only go out to evangelize others in imitation of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, if we truly know Who Jesus is to us, and have a real relationship with Him. We all live in mission territory, and the world is our mission field. We need to bring the Love of Christ out to the highways and byways to teach the faith to those who are searching for love, but have not yet found it. We all have a God-shaped hole in our hearts, and there is nothing on this earth that can fit into that special place that was meant for God alone. We need to help those who spend their lives searching for something that they can never find to come to know and experience the Love of Christ; a beautiful and authentic Love that captivates our hearts, minds, and souls.

I know that I need Christ as I need the air I breathe, and I would be nothing, but a weak and poor sinner without Him. There is no life without Christ. He is our beacon of Light in any darkness, and it is in the Catholic Church where Jesus never abandons us. He promised to never leave us and it is by His gift of the Bread of Life; the Eucharist, that we are never alone. When we receive the Love of Christ by coming to Him, it is then and only then that we can venture out into mission territory. Without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and adoring His Eucharistic Face, how can we be missionaries who bring Christ to those who do not yet know Him? 

Our hearts must be filled with zeal and set on fire with the Holy Spirit, Who will prepare our hearts and give us the words that will help to bring others to Him. The Beloved is waiting as a prisoner of the tabernacle for us to come to Him, and He weeps as He remains alone in so many Churches. We need to make reparations for the sins committed against His Sacred Heart, and to console Him, Who suffers by these great sacrileges and offenses. It is by having a deep relationship with Christ, and by the example of our lives that we will help others to see how much God loves them, and that He patiently waits for them in the Eucharist.