By Archbishop Thomas Wenski - The Archdiocese of Miami
Archbishop Thomas Wenski preached this homily at a Mass marking the 40th anniversary of Amor en Accion, the archdiocesan lay missionary group that works in the Dominican Republic and Miami’s sister diocese, Port-de-Paix, Haiti. The Mass was celebrated Oct. 1 at St. Dominic Church in Miami.
Hay muchas caras conocidas congregadas aquí hoy y le damos gracias a Dios por todos aquellos que han apoyado el trabajo de Amor en Acción a lo largo de estos últimos 40 años. Estamos muy agradecidos por todos aquellos que una vez — siendo muy jóvenes — tuvieron el valor de fundar Amor en Acción.
And today’s Mass has the air of somewhat of a class reunion. It’s a reunion of the graduates of the “university” of Amor en Accion’s commitment to mission. Today, thanks to the CELAM’s 2007 Aparecida document and Pope Francis’ Evangeliae Gaudium, the Joy of the Gospel, we are familiar with the term, “missionary disciple.” Well, “Amor en Accion” has been teaching people to walk with Jesus as “missionary disciples” for 40 years.
And what better day to celebrate this anniversary than on the feast day of the patroness of the missions, St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, the Little Flower. Marie-Therese Martin, as she was known before entering the convent at 15, came of age in a time when people began to believe that they could live as if God did not matter. But, for her — and this is, I believe, the reason for her appeal — nothing else mattered but God. Living the spirituality of Carmel — a spirituality that has given the world such giants of mysticism as Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross, Theresa of the Child Jesus lived always in the presence of God. And this God mattered because it was his Love that sustained the world. Even if her contemporaries no longer thought to care about God, Theresa reminded us that God still cared about us — and that the secret for true happiness was found in us caring enough to seek to please him in all things. She taught us the “little way” — that is, the road to sanctity is found in turning what a worldly viewpoint might consider insignificant or unimportant into opportunities to do God’s will. To be a saint one did not have to do heroic things or work wonders. One could achieve sanctity by doing ordinary things with great love.
Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús nos enseñó el “caminito” — es decir, que el camino hacia la santidad se encuentra en lograr cambiar lo que el mundo considera como insignificante y sin importancia — en oportunidades para hacer la voluntad de Dios. Para ser un santo, uno no tiene que hacer cosas heroicas o hacer maravillas. La santidad de Santa Teresita no se basa en fenómenos extraordinarios. Se basa en "hacer de manera extraordinaria las cosas más ordinarias y corrientes”.
Doing ordinary things with great love is a good definition of what we mean when we put “love into action,” Amor en Accion. Mission work might seem to be exotic — and traveling to Haiti or the Dominican Republic on mission trips is for most people is something “out of the ordinary.” But if we are to be successful missionaries, if we are to be missionary disciples, we need to learn that “little way” that St. Theresa taught us in her autobiography, The Journey of a Soul. For the work of a missionary is not about “showing off” but “showing up”; the work of a missionary is not about colonization and domination but rather encounter and accompaniment; the missionary not only gives, he receives and he or she is evangelized as much as he or she evangelizes. From the poor, from those who have little, we can learn that material things — what we have — is not as important as who we are.
I remember when I was still in the seminary reading a magazine article written by an old missionary who had just returned from Africa. He said that a missionary is a guest in his Father’s house. As a fellow Christian, he was a brother and sister of those he served; but he could not forget that he was a missionary from a different culture and country and so he was a guest and had to learn to behave like a good guest. (For example, a good guest doesn’t enter into somebody’s home and rearrange the furniture, he doesn’t raid the refrigerator without permission, etc.)
Un discípulo misionero necesita una gran sensibilidad, y empatía, y para eso él o ella necesita mucha humildad. De los pobres, de aquellos que no tienen nada, nosotros aprendemos que las cosas materiales — lo que tenemos — no son tan importante como lo que somos. El discípulo misionero pone en acción el amor — no por aparentar sino por hacerse presente. Ser misionero no es cuestión de imponer ni es un esfuerzo por dominar. Es más bien encontrarse con el otro y acompañarle por el camino. Así como San Vicente de Paul les recordaba a sus colaboradores, “Hay que pedirle perdón a los pobres por el pan que les damos.” Estas son las lecciones bien aprendidas durante los últimos 40 años por todos aquellos que han sido tocados por la experiencia de la misión de Amor en Acción.
Pope Francis reminds us that “Through baptism, each of us becomes missionary disciples, called to bring the Gospel to the world. Each of the baptized, whatever their role in the Church or the educational level of their faith, is an active agent of evangelization. … The new evangelization should involve … a new central role for each of the baptized. The People of God is a People of disciples ― because we receive the faith ― and a missionary People ― because we pass on the faith. This is what makes baptism in us: it gives us grace and transmits the faith. All of us in the Church are disciples, always and for our entire lives; and we are all missionaries, each in the place that the Lord has assigned us.”
I pray that you all continue to put love into action by following the example of the Little Flower in her “little way” of doing ordinary things with great love. St. Theresa, pray for us. Santa Teresita del Niño Jesús, reza por nosotros.
