Mission ready

Every living thing on earth was created with a mission and purpose.

Likewise I am born with a mission, one which invites me to contribute in ways personal, to leave my own unique stamp on the world.

The last two talks that Pia and Stefan Attard gave over this weekend helped me delineate this gift of mission that was bestowed to me at birth.

At the Saturday talk on woman, Pia spoke about the Hebrew words used to name and describe Eve, the first woman.

According to these definitions, woman is created with an inner space, one that allows her to receive; she is to be man's help meet, to support and complement him; and she is by nature nurturing, life-giving and fruitful, always reaching out to others.

Unfortunately not all of us know exactly why we are created. Most of us, like the woman at the well, have made a few wrong turns in life, sinned a fair bit and have experienced rejection, discrimination and hurt.

We may have lost a sense of who we are, hungering and looking for love but not truly finding it.

It is only when she drinks and is filled with the water Christ offers, that she regains her dignity and true identity as woman, and then goes off to lead others to this amazing truth of 'living water' that satiates.

Leading others to the truth is a fundamental human drive for we all gravitate towards what is good, true and beautiful in life. This was addressed by Pia and Stefan on Sunday afternoon.

In order to fulfil this mission of Christian leadership, there are five things we must recognize:

i) we are called to servant leadership; to serve under the lordship of God in our brokenness, just as Peter in his failure to acknowledge Christ was broken and became the rock upon which the Church was built.

ii) we are called to a ministry of compassion. To be able to suffer/empathize with others, we must take on the attitude of Christ at Gethsemane: to do whatever is possible to overcome suffering but to also accede and ask for grace to carry the cross when we realize it is beyond us.

iii) we have authority under authority. If we are obedient to the authority of God, we can carry the accountability of our given authority with integrity, and consequently earn moral authority.

iv) there is an ongoing transformation involved as we strive to bring out the original beauty of the image and likeness of God in ourselves.

v) we are all wounded healers. If we allow Christ into our broken lives, to wash our dirty feet again and again, then we will be able to reflect His unconditional love to others and bring about healing.

In order to be mission ready, it is vital that we base our faith on:

i) kerygma - we must be familiar with the Word of God, studying it like Jesus did, so that we can live it out and preach or proclaim the good news with authority.

ii) leitourgia - by participating in the liturgy and by being Eucharistic people, we can help others celebrate and give thanks for the gift of their lives.

iii) koinonia - through communion by intimate participation, we can grow the bonds we each have with family, friends and God.

iv) marturia - we must be ready to witness, to help others grow in faith by testifying to God's love in our lives.

v) diakonia - by reaching out in service to help the poor and the oppressed.

It's by no means easy to be missionary, but when we allow ourselves to see through Jesus' eyes and feel with His compassionate heart, then we can preach in His voice by being His hands and feet here on earth.

And do ordinary things extraordinarily.