In today’s first reading from the 3rd letter of St John, John is writing to Gaius. Early Christians are traveling to far away lands to spread the Gospel. They travel with little if any money and there are no hotels or hostels yet developed for them to stay at. And McDonalds restaurants are at least 50 years away from becoming a thing (Ok, maybe a little bit longer than 50 years). In short, they need help. So a network of believers are established to aid those traveling about preaching the Gospel. And Gaius is one such aid. And a very successful and important one. He and his community have been instrumental in giving assistance to the missionaries who have come to their region in the past. And John is giving them advanced notice of another group who will be in their midst soon. And asks for their continued help. But why write to an individual, such as Gaius, and not to the Church directly?
Apparently there is an individual named Diophenes who is a member of the Church but not supportive of John and his missionaries. In fact, he has intercepted John’s letters, blocking them from being shared with the wider community. He does not believe in the message the missionaries are bringing with them. He has also spread gossip about them to the population thus making it difficult for these emissaries to continue their mission in spreading the Gospel. So John circumvents Diophenes by writing to a faithful member of the Church, Gaius. John is planning to confront Diophenes face to face but looks to lay the groundwork for himself and his disciples before they arrive by employing Gaius. It appears to be all very political and complicated.
What exactly is a mission? Is it always a formal, complex network involving far away places, such as we see in the New Testament? In order to go on mission do we need to be official “missionaries?” We have all had a mission of one type or other. In a sense, it is some type of goal that we set for ourselves or is put upon us by another person or group. It may be achieving an educational, financial, or work related goal. We think of military missions. We set our sights on something and we plan and work to achieve it.
But, in a religious, particularly Christian, sense a mission is seen as a cause to help an individual or group in another area (requiring travel) to overcome difficulties while, at the same time, spreading your group’s message. We think of mission trips to parts of Africa, to the middle east and to Asia. Mission trips can also be local. Using our gifts to assist those in need in our own back yards.
But I think even beyond this concept, missions can be even simpler. I was at a veterinary conference recently and one of the sessions I attended involved how to manage difficult situations that may develop with pet owners. As part of the session we were grouped into subsets of three or four people. And the task was for one of the persons in the group to propose that the group travel to any place or time that they would like the whole group to see. Then the rest of the group had to respond by saying “No” and why thus setting up a confrontation and letting us each experience the emotion involved in the conflict.
When it was my turn to suggest a time and a place, I suggested Jerusalem in the year 30 AD. We were not supposed to explain why we chose that particular scenario. Just put it out there. Of the three other people in my group, only one understood the significance of the suggestion. Her explanation for saying no to the idea was because she was afraid of crucifixion. At that, the light bulbs went on in the minds of the other two in the group in terms of what the significance was to my suggestion. Was this a mission? I think so. The news of the Gospel was shared in a way. And I did not need to get funding for travel, food and lodging expenses. No vaccines were required nor a language to be learned.
The word “mission” has a Latin Root which means “to send”. And that could mean being sent as an individual to a far away place. But it also could mean sending God’s word in the situation you happen to find yourself in. Making the sign of the cross at a restaurant when saying grace. Making it to Mass when out of town on a business trip. Sticking by a fast when it is not convenient to do so.
Wherever you go, whenever you go, you are on a mission to be God’s voice in a sometimes hostile world. So, when it comes to your faith life, follow the advice in that American Express commercial….“Never leave home without it”
