Spirituality: Missioning Mass

Missioning Mass

July 6, 2023

 

 

            These readings selected by those who are to be missioned are filled with praise and blessings to God, who has done wonders in God’s personal and unique ways. At first blush, one could easily pass aside Matthew’s account of the curing of the paralytic for a missioning mass in favor of a more relevant passage, but the movement contained within these verses seems to indicate the type of ministry to which you are being sent. People are going to bring to you those who are paralyzed in some way, whether it is in one’s relationship with God or a memory that needs to be healed or a perception that needs to be adjusted. Those who seek you say they want to improve their relationship with God, and they also need liberation in ways they may not be able to articulate. We cannot know what is in the heart and mind of another person until we build up trust and ask them. Your ministry is sacred and life-revealing. Do you realize the power and authority have you been given? You are able to help someone understand that her or his sins have been forgiven. That was once a power afforded only to God. You can help someone rise, pick up her stretcher, and walk in dignity and grace – healed, restored, fully alive, and proclaiming the greatness of God. 

 

            We are heading to a world that hungers for meaning, for an end to isolation, for acceptance and belonging, for that which is nourishing and life-generating. We will see those paralyzed by fear, addictions, tarnished self-worth and low esteem, bruised and broken by hurtful words and violent actions, and those who see themselves as unlovable, and they come forth to you as the person who represents the mind, heart, and attitudes of God. Will you love them? Will you find them lovable? Can you let yourselves be loved by them? And yet they seek you out. They come to you to hold them tenderly and gently, with compassion and understanding. You will be able to enter into another’s chaos because you simply bother enough to care. You are more meaningful to them than you may realize as they entrust their sacred stories to you. 

 

            We recognize that we are not fully healed, that we have a long way to go to be ready, that there is unfinished work, and at the same time, we are healed by the ministry we offer. We are the ones who are changed and transformed with each story we hear with every experience that touches our heart. Regardless of how you feel about your readiness, God is calling you now. This is the moment. As you have experienced growth, the church around you is evolving at a quick pace. The church will evolve at the same rate that you are able to manage change. What is your capacity to allow the church to grow organically? Perhaps, you might even see that the church is the paralytic that the friends are bringing to Jesus for healing, and it could not arrive there without your friendship. If there is something for which we can pray, it is “Courage.” That is what Jesus says to the one who is not quite able, the paralytic. He will give us the courage if we ask for it because fear is not faith, and we’ve spent a great deal of time deepening our faith this past month and the last few years. Courage. 

 

            Before we go, this is our moment of calm recollection, a time of praise where we can present to God the blessings of our time together. We breathe together to recognize all that we have been given. We know that when we breathe we can do anything that Christ entrusts us to do. We’ve spent time enjoying one another as roommates, sometimes as God’s frozen chosen with a fierce air conditioner, as dance partners at socials, as prayer leaders at Vespers, and in private conversations where we’ve spoken words like, “I know so much about your interior life, but I don’t know your husband’s name.” Our feet jumped in dance unison during socials, and we’ve visited the fireflies and smelled the honeysuckle fragrances. We saw buildings being painted brick by brick and a fountain getting restored. We marveled at creative work at the Hot Shops and in the poems we penned. We saw the mystery in one another as we were given the same assignments and produced such unique perspectives. We shed tears. And more tears. And even more tears, and we allowed our hearts to be moved in surprising times and ways. And we can together as one community in faith ready to pass on what has been handed over to us. We know that as a drop of water into a pond ripples forth, we will not know how much we have been touched until those ripples carry out its mission. Mostly, we realize how much we depend upon God and are grateful for the ways we have been stretched, formed, and molded into who we are today and who we are becoming. The Gospel ends with the crowds glorifying God who gave authority to all people of goodwill. May we always hold this authority in awe and magnificence. 

 

            It seems fitting to end with the words of praise in the first reading: Let us bless the God of all, who has done wonders, who fosters growth from the womb. May God grant you a wise heart and abide with you in peace. Alleluia. Amen.