Dear Parishioners,

What a wonderful time we had at our King and Queen dinner and dance last Friday and I pray you had a wonderful time at the festival. I had a blast! It is so good to be home!!! It was also a joy to see everyone together and having a wonderful time as the family of God, especially considering all that we have gone through this past month. 
This Sunday we celebrate as a family of faith "Mission Sunday," which reminds us that we are each called to holiness and to invite others to follow Christ. As we celebrate Mission Sunday, we are reminded that our own mission as a parish is "Raising missionary disciples who make missionary disciples to glorify God." First of all, we are called to be "missionary disciples." What does that mean? Well, let's break it down.

What is a disciple? A disciple is a student (in Latin "discipulus") who follows and studies under a teacher. Our teacher is Christ and our study is His life and teachings. Through prayer and discipline we are called to imitate Christ - think like Jesus, act like Jesus, pray like Jesus, suffer like Jesus, and love like Jesus. Imitating Christ gives us new life as His followers, and because our lives have been changed by Jesus, we then share what He has done for us, which leads us to being "missionary."

"Missionary" means "being sent, (in Latin, 'missio'). The last words of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 28:19-20 are, "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." We are sent out, like the servants in today's Gospel, to invite all people to the feast - to know, love, and serve the Lord. We do this out of love for our neighbor, that their lives may be changed by encountering Christ, just as ours have been transformed. It is not enough simply for others to become disciples of the Lord, but then to go out themselves and invite others to know and love the Lord. This is our ultimate mission, and it is all to glorify God and bring people to heaven. This is not about making St. Robert's grow or any other reason. This is about bringing others to Christ, who will bring them to heaven. 

Our mission is an urgent mission, because souls are on the line. As we hear in the Gospel, there are many people who do not go to heaven because they hear God's calling, but do not come. Indeed, "many are invited, but few are chosen." God invites all, but many do not respond. The lack of response brings a soul to hell, not simply in the afterlife, but in this life as well. To live without God is the definition of hell. Our mission is to bring people to heaven - to live with God here and now and in the afterlife. 

Having said all of this, I know that most of us are not yet fully mature disciples of the Lord, much less missionary disciples, and that is ok. What I ask each of us to do today is to consider what my next step is to grow in my relationship with the Lord in order to become a better disciple, and then eventually, a missionary disciple. Maybe I just need to start praying daily, or maybe go to confession, or maybe be reconciled with God after being angry at Him, or maybe praying the rosary or praying with Sacred Scripture. Maybe it's being reconciled with someone who hurt me or maybe it's sharing an experience of grace with a family member or friend. We are all in a different stage on our spiritual journey towards becoming missionary disciples who not simply follow the Lord, but invite and accompany others as well. I pray we can all continue to grow in our faith together with joy and trust in the Lord as we seek to become a missionary church and missionary disciples of the Lord.

Buen Camino,
Fr. Philip Brune