We began the day with prayer and mass. The heart of mission comes from the Eucharist and from the final word of the Eucharistic liturgy, "Ite miss est.". In English, we usually hear something FTP the effect of, "Go in peace to love and serve the Lord.". We hear implicitly the call to mission, "Go forth.". The Latin connects explicitly with the word "missa.". A Latin word of which the English word "mission" is a derivative. At the end of mass this morning we were told to go forth. In a tangible way we did. We worked. We dug and twisted metal to make rebar. The only machinery was our God given limbs and muscles. We separated earth from earth to prepare for the pouring if the foundation of two houses, a rectory for a newly established parish and for a family of thee, a mother and her two sons. The mother has cancer. They currently live in a 10' x 10' structure, simple but inadequate.
We worked. We dug. We sweated. We shared the load. We were doing a corporal work of mercy, providing shelter for he homeless. Were we? By digging and twisting metal, are we fulfilling the call to proclaim Christ crucified and risen? These are the questions that I ask myself. Is this what God called us to do?
I had a conversation with some of the guys about these questions tonight. I building the rectory we are allow the pastor to b near his people and better serve them as a priest and as a man. We in a small way aid in his proclaiming the gospel. With regard to the other house, I received some more information. Apparently the family'e next door neighbor is the brother if the man who left his children with their mother abandoning the family. The family of the brother-in-law have a very nice house compared to the 10' x 10' house of the of the family in question. They give no aid to heir neighbors and at least by law their family. To make things worse, the mother has cancer and yet still works to make ends meet. All this together living in a 10' x 10' house is not sufficient for their needs. In that we are doing a corporal work of mercy, and proclaiming Christ in our actions.
We worked. We dug. We sweated. We shared the load. We were doing a corporal work of mercy, providing shelter for he homeless. Were we? By digging and twisting metal, are we fulfilling the call to proclaim Christ crucified and risen? These are the questions that I ask myself. Is this what God called us to do?
I had a conversation with some of the guys about these questions tonight. I building the rectory we are allow the pastor to b near his people and better serve them as a priest and as a man. We in a small way aid in his proclaiming the gospel. With regard to the other house, I received some more information. Apparently the family'e next door neighbor is the brother if the man who left his children with their mother abandoning the family. The family of the brother-in-law have a very nice house compared to the 10' x 10' house of the of the family in question. They give no aid to heir neighbors and at least by law their family. To make things worse, the mother has cancer and yet still works to make ends meet. All this together living in a 10' x 10' house is not sufficient for their needs. In that we are doing a corporal work of mercy, and proclaiming Christ in our actions.
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