St. Maria Goretti

I love going to the movies. And I’ve got to confess to you today, that some of my favorite movies of the last few years, have been action/adventure movies. Some of those action movies today are so non-stop that when you come out of the theater, you feel tired from all the running around and action. And some of the best action/adventure movies are the Mission Impossible movies. Have you seen any of those? In the last one, they blew up a Lamborghini in the Vatican! Can you believe that? Who thinks of these things? But my favorite part of all of the Mission Impossible movies and even the old TV show, was always the beginning, when Ethan Hunt in the movies, and Jim Phelps in the TV show, received their missions. How cool was that, to have the message self-destruct in five seconds? It made the whole thing so mysterious. You knew, from the very beginning that the mission was going to be really important for the safety of the free world. If it wasn’t a big deal, why would the mere description of the mission have to destroy itself? It was the perfect beginning to get our attention. I wonder if Jesus were with us today, if He wouldn’t use the whole Mission Impossible idea to get His point across. Can’t you just imagine Jesus sending St. Peter a sheepskin scroll with the mission of building the Kingdom of God on it? “Peter, your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to build an everlasting Kingdom using nothing but Faith, Hope, and Love. This message will self-destruct in five seconds.” And then of course, there’d have to be that music from the Mission Impossible. That would have gotten St. Peter’s attention, wouldn’t it? You see, if God would have just waited two thousand years, He could have used all these ideas from the movies. Let’s be honest though, He knew what He was doing.

Still, as we read this Gospel today, I can’t help but think of Mission Impossible. God sends these seventy-two followers on a mission to start building the Kingdom of God. And there’s no self-destructing tape recording, and there’s no theme music, and there’s no exploding Lamborghini’s. Instead, Jesus calls these 72 individuals to a complete trust in God. They are to go out into the world, not an easy place for Christians to go out into, and they are to rely completely on God. And God is promising to take care of them. All of their needs will be met. They will have enough to eat. They will have a place to stay. And God will send them people to hear their message. It may not be Mission Impossible, but it is a pretty challenging adventure for the seventy-two. It would have taken a lot of Faith to go out on Jesus’ mission. And they did go. And they were successful. And miracles happened when they did what Jesus had commanded them.

My brothers and sisters, all of us today are sent out on a mission every bit as much as those 72 individuals were two-thousand years ago. When we leave this church in just a little while, our mission begins just as surely as theirs did in the Gospel. And today we need to have Faith. We need to rely on God for everything. We need to stay focused on what we’re doing and what God is doing through us. And we need to support and take care of one another as we fulfill our mission. There was a very good reason why Jesus sent them out two by two to do His work. Jesus knew the only way that Catholic Christians were going to be able to handle the mission, was with the prayers and support of one another. We need each other in this work for God. The Church isn’t looking for Lone Rangers. Instead, the Church is looking for team players. We are in this together with our God.

And just like for the seventy-two, miracles are waiting for us when we do God’s work. Isn’t it time that we really trusted that? Isn’t it time that we really went to work for Jesus? God has been trying to send all of us out on mission for years now. Why won’t we go? Why won’t we at least give Him a chance? The time to go to work for God is now. And all of us can do it. You don’t have to be a priest, or a bishop, or a theologian. All of us are called. All of us are sent. It’s time for all of us to get busy! This is our Mission. Please choose to accept it!

May God bless us this weekend, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit… AMEN !!!

St. Maria Goretti… Pray for us !!!