All right! This is the first post so I guess I have some explaining to do. Why did I choose to describe myself as a “student missionary”? That’s simple. We are all missionaries. One of my favorite parts of the Mass is actually the end. But not because Mass is boring or I have a lot to do when I get home. After we have been nourished and renewed in receiving Jesus in the Eucharist, the priest or deacon literally tells us to go away! Okay, so maybe not in those harsh terms, but one of the most beautiful parts of this new translation is a dismissal written by Pope Benedict XVI himself in which the priest or deacon says, “The Mass is ended. Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life!”
In the Latin Mass, the priest would say, “Ite, missa est,” literally, “Go, it is ended.” The word “Mass” is derived from missio, which means, “to be sent.” This is also where we get the words “mission” and “missionary.” (I know there are a bunch of disputes over the exact meaning, but just go with it). During Mass, we receive Jesus, body, blood, soul and divinity, and are sent out on a mission, into the world to glorify God in the way we live our lives! In our actions, in our words and in even the most mundane tasks during the day, we have been commanded to go out into the world as missionaries of Jesus Christ. Man, do I love etymology!
The priest isn’t just telling us it's time to go! He’s telling us to go share with others what we have received! We are extremely blessed to be able to receive Jesus, and not just figuratively, but literally! We literally consume Jesus and He becomes a part of us! We become walking tabernacles as that little Host makes its way down our digestive tract. I once heard a story that this woman would go to Mass every week and leave right after receiving Communion. The priest noticed this and one day, he told the altar servers that after she had received Communion, to take the candles and follow the woman all the way out to her car. The point is she isn’t the same person as she was before she received. She is carrying Jesus around inside of her and besides; Judas left the first Mass early, right?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that, “the Eucharist is ‘the source and summit of the Christian life’” (CCC 1324). As a wise priest once said in a Homily, we come to the altar with nothing, but we leave with everything. How true is that? If we leave with everything after receiving Jesus, how much better can our day get? Of course it’s the summit of the day! It is now our job, our mission, to give that everything, to everyone.
So yeah, I’m a student and a missionary. Make more sense now?
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