Month of Mission / Oktoberfest

“Faith is God’s precious gift, which opens our mind to know and love him. He wants to enter into relationship with us and allow us to participate in his own life in order to make our life more meaningful, better and more beautiful. God loves us! Faith, however, needs to be accepted, it needs our personal response, the courage to entrust ourselves to God, to live his love and be grateful for his infinite mercy. It is a gift, not reserved for a few but offered with generosity. Everyone should be able to experience the joy of being loved by God, the joy of salvation! It is a gift that one cannot keep to oneself, but it is to be shared. If we want to keep it only to ourselves, we will become isolated, sterile and sick Christians. The proclamation of the Gospel is part of being disciples of Christ and it is a constant commitment that animates the whole life of the Church.” –Pope Francis (Message for World Mission Day 2013)

            Pope Francis has proclaimed this October as a Month of Mission and I feel very blessed to be a part of this in a special way by serving here in South Sudan.  In his message for World Mission Day Pope Francis continues to talk of the new evangelization and how together as members of Christ’s church we are all called to spread the Good News with joy.  We can set the world on fire, not alone, but together backed by the Church: “The Church – I  repeat once again – is not a relief organization, an enterprise or an NGO, but a community of people, animated by the Holy Spirit, who have lived and are living the wonder of the encounter with Jesus Christ and want to share this experience of deep joy, the message of salvation that the Lord gave us. It is the Holy Spirit who guides the Church in this path.” 

            This is something I know that I can never lose sight of as I continue to serve here in Gumbo.  Already there have been many times where I have thought about how nice it would be to be home right now but then I remember why I came here.  Because Christ has given me so much and has brought me so much joy and peace and I want to share that with others, especially those in most need.  I have been given so many opportunities to grow in my faith and encounter Christ due to my strong Catholic upbringing (thanks Mom and Dad!) and I want to share what I have learned with the people of South Sudan. 

            Another great thing about the Month of Mission is that it is in my favorite month, October!  My fellow SLM’s (Mike and Tom) and I have already had many conversations about how we miss fall with a great passion.  The leaves, Oktoberfest beer, and of course the great weather.  Here it is getting hotter with every week but we have many other things to be joyous about so its all good.  October is also a month of many great Saints.  We have already celebrated the feasts of St. Therese (I just finished reading “Story of a Soul” which was absolutely amazing! I would like to thank my fellow SLM’s Holly and Caitlin for recommending it to me on orientation!) and also of St. Francis who will always have a special place in my heart and spirituality due to my four great years at Franciscan University.  Later this month we will also celebrate the feast of St. Teresa of Avila (October 15^th), who happens to be my birthday saint!

            Also this week we are having end of term 2 examinations at the secondary school so please pray for all of our students.  They have been working very hard and it has been great to see their desire to learn and succeed.  Anyways, Happy Oktoberfest! Happy Month of Mission! And God Bless!