There is a story that Dominicans love to tell about St. Dominic sending young friars out on mission very soon after the founding of his order. When others questioned the prudence of sending the friars out so soon, Dominic responded, “Grain that is hoarded will rot, but if it is scattered, it will bear fruit.” This story is particularly meaningful to Dominicans as we set out on new missions around the country and the world at the beginning of the new school year.

The word mission comes from the Latin word meaning “to be sent.” It can be a temptation to us to relegate “mission” to missionaries in foreign countries, to priests and sisters, or even to teachers in general. However, as Christians, we have all been sent by God; we are all meant to be on mission, even if we never leave our home towns.

Pope Paul VI taught us, and Pope Francis has continued to re-emphasize, that the Church exists to evangelize (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14). We, who are the Church, the Body of Christ, exist to evangelize; we find the meaning of who we are in evangelization, that is, in the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We see this in Jesus’ Great Commission of the apostles just before His Ascension into heaven: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt. 28:19a).

As members of the Church, we have encountered Christ. If we truly know Him and love Him personally — in the Eucharist, in the Scriptures, in Holy Mother Church — we will want others to experience Him as well; we will not be content knowing that they are struggling through life without this relationship with Him. Out of true love for them, we will seek to bring Him to them so that they, too, may experience the joy and peace that encountering Him brings. We know that we will not be able to keep this knowledge and love of Him to ourselves without having what we hoard rot. To be who we truly are, we must respond to the call we received at our baptism to be sent out so that Christ may bear fruit for the Kingdom in and through us.

There may be people in our lives — family members, coworkers, fellow parishioners — who know about Christ but who do not really know Him, personally and intimately. We must be the light of Christ to them so that they are able to realize in us, both by our actions and our words, the difference that being in relationship with God can bring, the joy and the peace that can only come from daily encountering Him.  It is not enough for us to try to be good people and hope this will be an example to others; we must be willing to proclaim the truths of the Faith, the truths of God’s love for each of us.

St. Francis of Assisi, who is often misquoted as saying, “Preach the Gospel at all times, if necessary use words,” from the beginning of his order sought to preach to the people. He and his friars taught — yes, by example, but also explicitly through words — the need for conversion and repentance to living a life in communion with God. If we each exist, if we live to evangelize, our ongoing personal conversion will be the impetus that leads us out of our comfort zone on a mission to preach Christ and to be Christ to all those we meet.

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Sr. Mary Martha Becnel is a member of the Ann Arbor-based Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist.