Last week I mentioned my friends the Marian Missionaries of Divine Mercy. Almost every day of my stay in the Berkshires I was blessed enough to attend Mass and pray the Liturgy of the Hours with them, walk the beautiful grounds, spend extra prayer time in their little chapel, and have many wonderful conversations, filled with not only spiritual sharing, but also lots of laughter and good, clean fun.
All week long I couldn’t stop thinking about how welcoming they all are, Fr. Michael included. There seems to be a steady stream of people in and out of the inn to pray, eat, work, and visit with the missionaries. As I looked at the readings for today, one verse in particular caught my eye and reminded me of this:
“All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you.” Gen. 12:3
Scripture scholars assign different meanings to this, but one that resonates with me is that the “blessing enjoyed by Abraham and his descendants will awaken in all peoples the desire to enjoy those same blessings.”[1]
The Marian Missionaries are blessed by God. There’s no doubt about it. There is a kindness, a caring, and an attention to others that really sets them apart. I’m convinced that this welcoming spirit is a direct result of the amount of time they spend each day in prayer cultivating a personal relationship with the Lord, whose arms are always open in welcome. The Lord honors their seeking by sharing with them His own divine life, most especially in the sacraments, and they then become bearers of life to others.
Being around the missionaries has inspired me in my spiritual journey and encouraged me to love God better, to desire deeper relationship with Him, and to trust Him even more. In other words, the blessing they enjoy, awakened in me the desire to enjoy that same blessing.
We are all called to be missionaries in this sense: to reach out to others, to welcome all those we encounter into our hearts and lives without discrimination, to share with anyone and everyone the love of Christ within us, by really seeing, smiling, asking, listening, being present … But in order to do this well, we must first open ourselves up to the blessing of God by actively seeking personal relationship with Him, particularly by frequenting the sacraments.
When the Lord is an integral part of each day, when we wake up in the morning eager to serve Him, when daily time spent with Him is our number one priority, and when we seek union with Him in the sacraments — specifically the Eucharist — He will bless us with His own divine life, which will help us live as He lives and love as He loves. And those around us will see how we are blessed, and hopefully in turn desire that same blessing for themselves.
This week, join me in seeking the Lord still more — we can never have too much of Him! If you haven’t been to Mass, confession, or Eucharistic Adoration in a while, get there. Make it happen this week, because relationship with Him is more important than anything else. May our Blessed Mother help us keep our priorities straight so that everyone we encounter will find blessing in us!
