A Little Missionary: I Am With You Always

A lot can happen in the span of seven months, especially when you partake in a beautiful sacrament of the Catholic Church. Yes, on May 21, 2016 I married my wonderful husband Nick Grevas, so now I write for the first time as Mrs. Maggie Grevas. Nick is a FOCUS missionary, Fellowship of Catholic University Students, where for the past three years he has been assigned to a college campus with a team to keep the Catholic faith alive in college. His job as a missionary is to help students to build their relationship with God and the Catholic Church, through one-on-one teaching, and bible studies. (Side note: Nick was a FOCUS missionary on my campus two years ago which is how we met!). I am so excited to say that I will be working for FOCUS as well as an affiliate, working side by side with my husband to share the Gospel and the love of God to students. We have been assigned this upcoming year to the campus of Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh, PA with a wonderful team, five of us in total. Hayley is our fearless leader, our team director, a beautiful soul from the good ol' state of Nebraska who is starting her second year in FOCUS at Carnegie Mellon and is ready to lead all of us to Christ throughout the year! Mia is a first year missionary from Illinois, both fun and spunky and has an amazing love for our Lord, as well as for ice cream. Then we have Chris, our other first year missionary from the far out state of California whose personality is just as outgoing as his hair. His courage and fight for the faith is just what we need to round out our team.

Training is a month long, consisting of classes, fellowship, team-bonding, and of course prayer. Right now we are doing a five-day bible challenge, focusing on a bible verse each day that ties in with our mission. Today was day one, and the verse was Matthew 28: 18-20, the very last verses from the Gospel of Matthew. Here Matthew writes:

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always to the close of the age'"

When I have read this verse in the past, the great commission of "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations" has always stuck out to me. This is Jesus telling us to go everywhere and tell the world about Him, about the Father, about the Gospel, all the teachings, making all of us like the Apostles. This is the definition of a missionary, that no matter where we are or what our jobs may be we must teach our faith, we must fearlessly live our faith as examples to all whom we meet. However this time while reading the passage, something else stuck out to me,

"and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age"

God is with me till the end of the age, but what does that mean?

Lately, I have begun reading "Walking with Mary" by Doctor Edward Sri, where he take the reader into the hidden life of Mary based on the little that we know about her from the Bible. Looking at the Annunciation, the very first mention of Mary, the angel Gabriel says to her in Luke 1:28 "The Lord is with you!" Dr. Sri explains how these words are significant for throughout the Bible this greeting has been used for various men and women who were called by God for a special task, such as Moses, Joshua, and David to name a few. Dr. Sri continues on to say that, "These missions would require much generosity, many sacrifices, and great trust, and that is why they were given the assurance that they would not have to face these trials alone, that God would be with them, guiding, protecting, and strengthening them."

Our call to be missionaries of Christ is not an easy one. We are meant to stand up for our beliefs in Catholic teaching, our faith in God, our love of God in a world today when the meanings of love and faith have been skewed. We may need to change how we live, how we speak, and how we act to fulfill this mission which we were called to directly by Jesus, a sacrifice in the eyes of the world, but a great leap of faith in the eyes of God. We are called to put our trust in Him that we know He is leading us down our path which was made special for us by Him. For such a special task, why wouldn't God be with us till the end of time? The very last words in the Gospel of Matthew are these words, this promise that He will ALWAYS be with us, ALWAYS be there to help us to fulfill our mission sent by His Son. That may be my actual full time job for the next year, but we don't have to be a FOCUS missionary to make disciples of all nations. We need missionaries in the hospitals, in the offices, in the sales rooms, in the restaurants, in the homes, in the schools, in every profession that there is. That is exactly why we have the GREAT commission, because it is meant for everyone.

Do not be afraid to live our your faith, to live our your love of God in your daily lives. Jesus did it, the Apostles did it, the saints did it, and you can do it too. Just remember, God is with us always, and with God nothing is impossible.