Life With Christ

When I entered college at Texas State, I was a practicing Catholic with a broken heart. My heart yearned to be known and loved, but no mere mortal could satisfy that desire, I learned. Several missionaries made an unending effort to walk with me through the ups and downs of my life, bringing me to the foot of the cross. This impacted me profoundly. They loved me well, and over time, they helped me understand that only Jesus could fill me up. And let me tell you, Jesus has continued to vibrantly transform my heart, setting me on my current path. The missionaries helped me see Jesus as the ultimate God of the universe who truly loves me intimately and desires a relationship with me. Because of their witness, I know my identity as a beloved son of God.
 
When the Lord called me to serve Him as a missionary with FOCUS, I wanted nothing more than to share with them the same message that I received. I wanted them to experience the freedom that comes through learning their true identity as beloved son of God the Father!
 
People often ask me, "What does a FOCUS missionary do?" The best answer is to use an analogy of a field medic. A field medic in the army goes out onto the battlefield and finds those who have been battered, broken, and harmed by the war. The medic bandages them up as best they can and brings them to a doctor who can tend to their needs fully. As a FOCUS missionary, we are field medics. We go out onto the battlefield of college campuses and meet students who have been wounded. We bandage them up and then bring them to the Divine Physician for transformative healing. 
 
We do this by first inviting them into an authentic friendship with us, and then by getting them involved in a small group bible study. As that friendship grows, we explicitly share the message of the Gospel with them. We share who God the Father is and who they are as His Beloved children, inviting them to grow in intimacy with our Lord. As they grow, we accompany these students through discipleship formation, where we cover the basic aspects of what it means to be a Christian: "They devoted themselves to the breaking of the bread, fellowship, prayer, and teachings of the Apostles" (Acts 2:42). 
 
In my own life as a missionary, I get the opportunity to remain close to Jesus through daily holy hours, praying rosaries on campus, attending daily mass, ongoing apostolic formation, and uniting my crosses to Jesus’ sacrifice. Now that I have a family to take care of, sometimes my friends ask me why I continue to serve as a missionary. My answer is always the same: Even though I’m here for the students, I need this too. Through my daily committed prayer times, I stay united to Jesus. My greatest dream as a husband and father was always to bring my family to mass daily. Due to the nature of my job, I get to do that.
 
I’m continuously humbled by the ways God asks us to give more of ourselves. I have learned that when I ask myself, "Is there more that I can give?" the answer is usually "Yes." I’ve found that God always gives us what we need to carry out His will. God will always “fill the tank” with His grace. I encourage you to allow yourself to let Christ stretch you on a mission, too. 
 
Being a missionary has been the most incredible honor of my life. By making a gift of myself, I’ve been led on a path of deep transformation. If I had never said yes to being a missionary, my life would have remained stagnant and empty.
 
I like to think that we should strive to be more like the Sea of Galilee instead of the Dead Sea. The Sea of Galilee both receives and gives, whereas the Dead Sea only receives and remains lifeless. As baptized and confirmed Catholics, we should be like rivers instead of reservoirs, making a gift of ourselves in service of others. Had the Apostles never gone out to evangelize, our faith would have died centuries ago. As God’s children, bestowed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit, we are called to go out in service to carry out God’s mission.