Bitten By the Bug

Welcoming the missionary transformation of the Church

10/22/2017

Matthew 22:15-21 The Pharisees went off and plotted how they might entrap Jesus in speech. They sent their disciples to him, with the Herodians, saying, "Teacher, we know that you are a truthful man and that you teach the way of God in accordance with the truth. And you are not concerned with anyone's opinion, for you do not regard a person's status. Tell us, then, what is your opinion: Is it lawful to pay the census tax to Caesar or not?" Knowing their malice, Jesus said, "Why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin that pays the census tax." Then they handed him the Roman coin. He said to them, "Whose image is this and whose inscription?" They replied, "Caesar's." At that he said to them, "Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God."

            Folks, have you been bitten by the bug yet? No, I’m not talking about an insect or some mosquito. I mean the “mission bug.” And when the mission bug bites you, it leaves you permanently changed. Two weeks ago Deacon Charlie spoke movingly about Fr. Stanley Rother, who lived as a missionary in Gautemala and finally gave his life in 1981 for the poor and needy. Over 20,000 people attended the Mass of his beatification on September 23 in Oklahoma City. Blessed Stanley Rother carried that mission bug back from Guatemala and I am convinced that it bit those 20,000 people attending his Mass. Let me explain the bite of the “mission bug.”

            Two weeks ago, Mercy Hospital organized an exploratory mission trip to Peru, taking two I.C. parishioners along, Ryan Gehrig and Michael Hadley. Of course, they spent the first week sight-seeing in Machu Picchu – use the right bait when you go fishing – but the second week they did mission work in an orphanage and they were deeply moved by the children. They were bitten by the mission bug. Last week, Fr. Andrew Hart (our former associate priest) and Fr. Jason Sharbaugh took several staff members from St. Thomas Aquinas at the University of Arkansas to the Dominican Republic. Why? Well, they want to make preliminary plans for an annual mission trip there for the college students, and they can’t wait to go back. They were bitten by the mission bug. For the past four years our parish of I.C. has partnered with St. Joseph in Fayetteville and traveled to Honduras and done mission work there for a week, several people have gone every year because they love it. They were bitten by the mission bug.

             Now, you might think: “Wow, that’s weird. Everyone is on a missionary kick all of a sudden. It’s just a passing fancy and will fade away.” But you’d be wrong. After being elected in 2013, Pope Francis called for a “missionary transformation” of the whole Church in his first encyclical. The Holy Father boldly declared: “I dream of a ‘missionary option,’ that is, a missionary impulse capable of transforming everything, so that the Church’s customs, ways of doing things, times and schedules, language and structures, can be suitably channeled for the evangelization of today’s world rather than for her self-preservation” (Evangelii gaudium, 27). In other words, Pope Francis wants the whole Church to be bitten by the mission bug. And even if we never step foot outside of Fort Smith, the pope still wants us to have a missionary heart and a missionary mind, to think and love like missionaries.

             I’ve personally gone on mission trips on and off for 20 years, and I’d like to share three different ways mission work has transformed me and my fellow missionaries. First, by discovering the joy of Jesus; second, by realizing everyone gets a gift, and third, by growing rich by first becoming poor. These are examples of the “missionary transformation” the pope is dreaming about for the Church.

            First, by discovering the joy of Jesus. Most of us think joy and happiness are identical, two ways of saying the same thing. But they’re very different. Happiness comes from eating chocolate ice cream, happiness comes from watching the Cardinals beat the Cubs (unless you’re a Cubs fan), happiness comes from a big Sunday collection (at least for me)! Happiness comes from getting something, but joy comes from giving something. Joy comes from being like Jesus who came to serve and not to be served, to wash his disciples’ feet, and who died on the Cross. The people of Honduras didn’t have a lot of “happiness” but they had tons of “joy,” the joy of Jesus. We missionaries were initially mystified and asked ourselves: “How are these Hondurans smiling without ipads and without fall football and without fried chicken??” They were short on happiness, but they were long on joy. And when we caught that distinction, we were bitten by the mission bug.

          Second, by realizing that everyone gets a gift. Most missionaries go with the mentality that we have gifts to give to the poor.  And we do have gifts to give. Some are doctors with latest medical science and technology, others are schooled in the best practices of construction and carpentry, and priests are armed with their Bible apps on smart phones (because we can’t cite Scripture from memory). But the poor also have gifts to give us. The Hondurans destroyed us in a game of soccer. They could eat jalapeno peppers like we eat popcorn at the movies. And they pray like people who have no doubt God hears them and answers them, they pray with unwavering faith. When we realized the poor had great gifts to give us, too, we were bitten by the mission bug.

          And third, we grew rich by becoming poor. The first thing you expect to experience as a missionary is self-emptying. You know you will have to make sacrifices, like no hot water to shower with or long days in hot humid weather, no air-conditioning, and worst of all, no wifi! But what we also experienced with increasing excitement was we were growing rich spiritually in faith, hope and love. When we emptied ourselves materially, we made space to fill ourselves up spiritually; we had created room for God. The smaller our carbon foot-print, the larger our spiritual foot-print. That was the third bit of the mission bug.

           Do you know what is the hardest part of every mission trip? It’s not what you might think. It’s not the going to the developing country and adapting to the heat and humidity and jalapenos. The hard part is the coming back home after you’ve been there for a week: after you’ve seen the joy of the people, after you’ve received their gifts, and after you’ve felt their freedom from material things. You come back a different person, indeed, a transformed person. Today is World Mission Sunday, and I invite you to consider how you can become a missionary in some way. Don’t worry, the bite from the mission bug doesn’t leave a bump or a bruise, it only leaves a blessing.

Praised be Jesus Christ!