Our common purpose – leading new followers to Christ – also brings joy

“Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature…” (Mark 16:15)

As a person who was born and raised in another country on another continent, currently living in the United States, very often I experience a feeling of longing. It is a longing for my family, for the old country. Often it is a strong, disturbing feeling, and sometimes it is a very delicate feeling that does not evoke any additional emotions. However, it is always a longing that suggests some lack. It indicates a need for something that I don’t currently have. How can I satisfy my longing?

When Jesus was 12 years old, His parents took Him to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover (Luke 2: 41-52). It was time spent among friends, family, acquaintances; it was time spent in prayer. However, in the entire description of this event, one situation catches my attention. At one point, Joseph and Mary missed Jesus. They noticed that He was not with them. So, they started looking for Him. They did not stop and stand still, but rather began to look for Him. Their search ultimately was successful. After three days, Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple. The evangelist Luke says that after finding Jesus, “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Luke 2:51).

This is where the decisive moment of my short story begins.

Everyone is looking for something in his life. Sometimes it is an insignificant thing; other times it is an important thing, or even the most important thing. However, we are really seeking happiness, the ultimate aim of every human being. As the passage about finding Jesus shows us, we can only find happiness in the temple. Yet we all are temples of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, the Holy Spirit lives in our heart, and that is where we can find the happiness that we are looking for.

Jesus obeyed his earthly parents, Mary and Joseph, and there is a question for each of us: whom should I obey? It seems to me, above all and always, I must obey God and God’s Word. God’s Word makes it very clear what we are to do.

In Mark 16:15, we read the words Jesus spoke to His disciples as He ascended to heaven: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature.” Go and proclaim! He says these words to each and every one of us! Jesus sends not only his disciples, but also each of us. He obliges us to go out into the world and proclaim His Gospel and His love. It doesn’t have to be in a different country or even on a different continent. It is enough that in my workplace, in my neighborhood, I will talk about Him and share what He is doing in my life.

The Church is a family that gives birth, educates, and teaches. I believe that this is what Jesus expects of me and of every believer today. Yet “it is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). He wants us to birth, to raise, and to teach new disciples of His. He only means three things! Nothing more. Birth, raise, teach. By doing these things, each of us will be doing the Father’s will. By doing these things, each of us will satisfy our hunger for happiness, because “My food is to do the will of Him who sent me” (John 4:34).

FATHER RAFAL WALCZYK, O.S.P.P.E., hails from Poland, and currently serves at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA. He has been a priest since 2005 in the Order of Saint Paul the First Hermit.