My job recently included duty in a middle eastern country. There are many Christians living there, and God provided me with a wonderful year of Christian activity. You may know, missionary work is very difficult an Islamic country. It is only lawful for them to minister to foreigners and native Christians. It is against the law for them to try to convert moslems.
One hot afternoon, from my air-conditioned 4Runner, I watched two little nuns, in gray habits, slogging along in obvious discomfort and weariness. The memory of them has become for me an icon of all the drudgery and hard work that must be involved in missions. You see, I had a job to back up my acts of faith, so I suffered no real hardship or inconvenience. My little bit of after work ministry was a joy, given that I had a definite departure date. Now I am home but, those sweet sisters are still there and they have never left me. They have come to represent to me missionaries everywhere who go on following Jesus, 'though no one join them. My heart aches for them. I salute them all.
This makes me also remember my friend, Father Fred. I promised to send him $10 per month while he was at a Maryknoll mission...I let him down..couldn't manage the price of a pizza to save a soul. I confess my indifference to Our Lord's workers. Is there other ways to help? Can we become Co-missioners with them? Maybe there is a mission worker near or far who could use a note from a friend and a care package now and then. If one part of the body is in distress the whole body suffers. Pray with me for those two nuns and all missionaries:
My dear Lord, You loved me first even when I didn't love you.
Thank you for all those that loved me and prayed for me
that I would turn to You
even when I was so low as to disdain to do so.
Thank You for your guiding hand that patiently beckoned me
until your Holy Spirit enabled me to proclaim,
"You are the Christ, The Son of the Living God!"
Don't allow me to callously cross to the other side of the road,
Show me how to help those who are helping those who need help.
Encourage those who give their lives to doing your work
for those who are hurt and abandoned.
Raise up more like them.
Make me bold to offer what I am empowered to do;
to help lift up, to hold a coat,
to chip in to pay for the inn, to encourage
and to stand in prayer.
My Lord if I bring no one closer to
you today let me not
by my actions or inactions or apathy
drive anyone further away.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
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