Are you on a mission? Pope Francis definitely is. He writes: “I am on a mission on this earth; that is the reason why I am here in this world” (EG 273).  Think of what we could do if we said the same.

When we’re on a mission, we make disciples! A disciple is a learner, and learning is life-long. When we identify ourselves as followers of Jesus we must keep on learning from Jesus and about Jesus. When did you learn from Jesus or about Jesus this past week? In prayer did you listen to him? Did you read or listen to the Pope’s homilies and speeches in the United States?  Was the Bible on your lap? We we’re confident that we really are disciples, we can make disciples.

To make disciples we make Jesus alive and real for ourselves and others. It’s creating a hunger in people for Jesus. When people look at us—our joy, our patience, our enthusiasm, our virtue—do they say “I want what you got”?

We do much for ourselves, our families, our community. But what is more important than what we’re doing for ourselves is being on mission to make disciples. True, we must take care of ourselves, but we can’t stop with making things better for us. Saint Paul would call even these important things “rubbish” (Phil. 3:8) if we do not really know Christ and are fully engaged in making disciples. It’s what we’re meant to do. So let’s do it!