Missions...

For the last several days ChristLife hosted two missionaries from Slovakia we met while we were over there on a mission trip two months ago. Fr. Rast'o is a Redemptorist priest and Bohus is a married man who leads a lay missionary community called River of Life.

During our many conversations and times of prayer - two themes emerged from their missionary experience: 1) the great benefit of close collaboration of laity and clergy, and 2) the importance of the lay movements and missionary communities in the Catholic Church. Both of these factors have enabled these awesome guys to reach thousands of individuals and hundreds of communities and parishes throughout Eastern Europe! Praise God!

Keep your eyes open for an upcoming podcast with Fr. Rast'o and Bohus- which will highlight their missionary activity, especially their experience under communism. It should come out in the next month sometime.

Finally, a note on "missions." Traditionally "missions" has been understood as "out there" and "overseas." But for the majority of us we are called to the ever-growing mission field among our families, friends, co-workers, classmates, etc. This a change of mindset for me, for all of us I think! As Pope Benedict XVI said a few months back, “I believe that missionary responsibility must once again become strong within us: if our faith makes us glad, let us feel bound to speak of it to others. The extent to which people will be able to accept it will then be in God's hands.”

Drawing from this quote, what component of our faith, makes you glad?

How can we communicate the joy of it to others?

Do you find yourself not trusting in God's providence - and thus, not evangelizing - because you worry "the extent to which people will be able to accept it"? Why?