“Follow me.”—John 21:19
I have to admit that I don’t really like to apply the word “volunteer” to those of you who are actively involved in the mission of the Church. Volunteer is a good enough word, I suppose, as it is a person who voluntarily, without pay, offers himself or herself for a service or undertaking. BUT, I can volunteer for something that is strictly for my own self-interest. When Jesus says to Simon Peter, “Follow me,” Simon Peter does not respond out of self-interest. Those of you that I have come to know in my fourteen years here at Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, don’t do what you do out of self-interest. So, for me, the descriptor, “volunteer,” misses the mark.
What is the mission of the Church? What is it that Simon Peter and today’s disciples embrace that alters the trajectory of their lives? Let’s look at the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
850 The origin and purpose of mission. The Lord’s missionary mandate is ultimately grounded in the eternal love of the Most
Holy Trinity: “The Church on earth is by her nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, she has as her origin the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” 341 The ultimate purpose of mission. . .to share in the communion between the Father and the Son in their Spirit of love.
851 Missionary motivation. It is from God’s love for all that the Church in every age receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, “for the love of Christ urges us on.”
854 By her very mission, “the Church . . . travels the same journey as all humanity and shares the same earthly lot with the world: she is to be a leaven and, as it were, the soul of human society in its renewal by Christ and transformation into the family of God.” 351
Leaven lifts bread up. To love as Christ loves, is to lift someone up, especially the poor; to recognize God in the sufferer and disenfranchised and work to change the situation. Simply put, for over two thousand years, Simon Peter and disciples have shared love in an unconditional, selfless way—the ultimate mission.
Barbara Molinari Quinby, MPS, Director
Office of Human Life, Dignity, and Justice Ministries
Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral Raleigh, NC