The mission of Christ

The Church does not have a mission, as though missionary work were one of its programs or projects.  The Church is the mission of Christ, who continues to seek and to save the lost who do not know their story.  Their story is Christ, the way, the truth and the life of all.  The Church does have many programs and projects, some of which she shares with other institutions and communities.  But the proclamation of God's love in Christ is the most important thing the Church does, because it is what she does uniquely.  If the Church did not do this, nobody would.  She does this simply because she is the Church and this is what the Church does.  She does this because she lives and breathes and is sustained in being by God's love in Christ, and love is either shared or lost. 


What we have we are obliged to share.  Others have a right to it, even if they don't know that. - Fr. Richard John Neuhaus, Death on a Friday Afternoon


If this is what the Church does, it is only so to the degree that it is what I do.  The Church is its members.  I live and breathe and am sustained in being by God's love in Christ.  To know Christ is to live.  For me, to not know Christ would be to despair.  My love for Christ is either shared or lost, and so I sing and pray, play my guitar and write blog posts, send messages of encouragement, talk about the wondrous love that caused the Lord of bliss to lay down his life for me.

Yes, I am obliged to share.  As St. Paul says, The love of Christ compels us.  When we fall in love, we tell our friends, and share the relationship.  Yet as much as we want to share our beloved, for those we love to love and value each other, we don't want them to have the same relationship as we do with our beloved.  But when we have encountered Christ through the Holy Spirit, we want our loved ones to know him as personally and intimately as we do!

This Triduum provides a precious opportunity to connect to my Savior's love, and to share it with those around me.  Each of us has a right to experience the love which Christ has manifest in its fullness in willingly laying down his life.