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To know Christ Jesus, and fulfill His Great Commission, by first living and then  communicating the fullness of life within the Family of God, the Church. 

Mission Possible

When you think or hear the words mission and missionary, what do you think?  You may think of priests and nuns that were sent to the remotest regions of the world and often were tortured and killed for their faith.  Since we aren’t sent to “remote” regions, what do we mean by calling ourselves FOCUS missionaries?  Mission comes from the Latin word missio which means, "to send".  A missionary is one who is sent off to do something; it is someone who is commissioned to do a service for the Church.  To be a FOCUS missionary then is to be someone sent off.  What are we sent off to do?  We are sent out to live and fulfill the FOCUS mission statement. 

The mission of FOCUS and any other apostolate or company is what drives and motivates the work.  Mission statements are important because they are concerned with the heart of what you do as a member.  Since we are sent out as FOCUS missionaries we should know what is the heart and core of what we do. 

“To know Christ Jesus”

The first and most foundational step is to know Christ Jesus.  We must know Him who calls us to this work.  Whenever we begin a task we should always "begin with the end in mind".  We should know where we want to go and “end up” and figure out the best way to get there. What is our goal by being a missionary? The goal for us is the same goal we have for those we share the gospel with: To know Christ Jesus.  The most important task in the Christian life is to know and love Jesus.  In Hebrew the word, yadah means, "to know".  This knowing is not just head knowledge about something; it is a relational knowledge that affects the way we live. It is a knowledge gained from experiencing something first-hand in a real and intimate way.  The Christian faith involves both knowing Christ and having Him affect us in a real and intimate way.  It is a knowledge gained from experiencing a Someone first-hand. 

“And fulfill His Great Commission”

What was the Great Commission? It is found at the end of Matthew's gospel. It is the last recorded words of Jesus to His disciples before He ascends into heaven. Just as you cherish the words of a departing friend, so we can hold as special the words Christ gave us right before He went to the Father. 

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age" (Mt 28: 19-20).

Jesus Christ tells us to "go".  He wants us to go out into the world and proclaim Christ to a new generation.  Jesus gave us a “go ye” gospel rather than a “come ye” gospel.  We have been called to go out and share the good news.  This is our mission, and this is why we are called missionaries.  Think of the last words of the Mass, "The Mass is ended, go in peace". We are called to go and bring the peace and joy we have received to those that we meet.  That is what Mary did after the Annunciation.  Right after she received the news that she was chosen to be the Mother of God she did not keep to herself and enjoy her great gift.  She "arose and went with haste" to visit her cousin Elizabeth who was six months pregnant (Lk 1:39).  She went to serve her cousin who was in need.  That is the goal of a missionary as well: to go and bring Jesus to others.

“By first living”

How do we fulfill the Great Commission? We do this by first living it ourselves.  Baptism is the sacrament by which we share in the very life of God.  We are reclaimed as a son or daughter for God through the washing of water in the sacrament.  We begin to live this life that has been given us by letting Jesus be the Lord of our life.  This includes everything – all of past and personal history, all our hopes and dreams for the future, and all our anxieties and joys of the present.  He has to be Lord of all or He is not your Lord at all. With God it is all or nothing if we want our life transformed.  In addition to the sacraments, the key to allowing God to transform our live is an active personal prayer life.  Everything stands or falls upon this – conversation with Jesus Christ in prayer.  Jesus wants us to talk with Him far more than He wants us to talk about Him to others.

The great Catholic writer G.K. Chesterton was once asked what the greatest problem with society was.  After a quick thought, he replied, "me!" He realized that change starts with oneself.  It starts by first living the faith out oneself.  Reflect on the following words, which are inscribed on the tomb of a Bishop in Westminster Abbey:

When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world.  As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.  But it, too, seemed immoveable.  As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it. And now as I am on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.  From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and, who knows, I may have even changed the world.

“And then communicating the fullness of life within the Family of God, the Church”

Niccoló Paganini revolutionized violin technique in Europe. He was a musical genius who played his first concert at age 11.  Before he died he chose to give Genoa, Italy, the city of his birth, his prized violin.  He would donate his violin under one stipulation – that no one would ever play it again.  The city officials enthusiastically agreed.  In 1840 Paganini died and the city built a beautiful glass display in a central place of the museum to showcase the instrument.  Within months of putting it there, the violin became worm-eaten and useless.  Wooden instruments are meant to be played, and if they are not then they easily corrupt and decay.  This beautiful violin that had played such wonderful music was now worth nothing.  The gift of the violin was meant to be handed on for someone else to play. If Paganini had done that we would still have his violin today. 

The same is true of the Christian life.  If it is not shared it will go to waste.  It must be given to others.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church says in paragraph 900 that "lay Christians are entrusted by God with the apostolate by virtue of the their Baptism and Confirmation, they have the right and duty, individually or grouped in associations, to work so that the divine message of salvation may be known and accepted by all men throughout the earth" (Emphasis added).  It is our right and our duty to share the good news of Jesus with those we meet.  We need to pass on the gift of faith.  What people need is a demonstration not an explanation of the faith. They need to see it lived out in our daily lives.

G.K Chesterton once said "They should be able to tell that you are a Christian by the way you climb a tree".  What that means is that our Christian faith should pervade all aspects of our life.  Whether we know it or not, whether we like it or not, people watch us to see how we act, react, and respond to any given situation.  Pope John Paul II conveys, in Novo Millennio Ineunte, his marching orders for Christians of the Third Millennium:  "The men and women of our own day—often perhaps unconsciously—ask believers not only to ‘speak’ of Christ, but in a certain sense to ‘show’ him to them.” You can give someone what you have been given by first living it out yourself.