"Stay Focused on the Mission" - What a Dying 7-Year-Old Taught Me About Living

 

Rome, and why the trip mattered

Last week, I was on a mission.

We took the children from the school, twenty-two kids from our choir, to Rome. Our parishioners made that possible. They made it possible for our kids to go to Rome, to shake hands with the Holy Father, to get a blessing from the Holy Father, to be able to sing for the Holy Father. The Holy Father began to sing with us.

A school from Farmer’s Branch.

So many years, people have asked me, “Father, when are you going to do a trip to Rome for the community?” I had no desire to go to Rome, no desire, until I found a proper reason to go.

The question behind today’s readings: Why am I here?

Today’s readings are all about one thing that we can never forget.

Why am I here? Why are you on this earth? What’s the purpose of your life?

The purpose of your life, if you can figure it out, is to fulfill your mission. That’s the reason why you’re here, to fulfill your mission.

A young couple, a first baby, and staying focused

Yesterday I had a beautiful breakfast with a young couple, recently married. They still love each other. They are having their first baby.

Think for a moment when you were having your first baby, and you were excited and nervous. Am I going to be a good parent? Am I going to be able to provide?

They were worried about all these things. I said to them, “What are you worried about?”

They said, “Father, the finances. We live in a small apartment.”

I said, “Just stay focused on the mission. Stay focused on the mission.”

What’s the mission when you’re married? What’s the mission?

“I will love you and honor you all the days of my life.”

Stay focused. If you stay focused on that, you’re perfect. Stay focused on the mission.

They said, “Father, there are people that have it better than us.”

I told them we have to be grateful. 

They said, “We know. There are people that have more than we do. There are people that have less than we do. We have to be grateful for what we have.”

Then I said, “That’s not it. That’s not it.”

“It is not you who chose me, I chose you”

In the first reading today: “Thus says the Lord, here is my servant.” Who’s my servant? “My chosen one.”

I remember when I was getting ordained a priest. I had to go down the aisle with 44 other men. There were supposed to be 45.

Can you imagine that on the last day, someone decided, “I can’t do this. I’m not going to do it.” It took just as much bravery to make that decision at the last minute as it did for the 44 that were going down the aisle.

The only thing that calmed me down was that one verse in the Bible where Jesus says, “It is not you who chose me, I chose you.”

I thought, Okay. You know everything about me. You know my ups, my downs, my weaknesses, my strength. You know everything.

When I look around the congregation, a lot of us are going through tough times. We still must stay focused on the mission.

Witness does not have to be loud

Do you realize that I get nervous when I preach? Do you realize that maybe the cantor gets nervous when she sings?

Maybe some of the children that are going to come up here and give their testimony will hold the microphone and say, “Good morning, everyone,” and they don’t get nervous.

You know why? Because when you’re young, you still are not focused on the mission. That is, I’m here to share something with you for the glory of God. That’s it.

If you can remember that all your life, that the reason why you are here on earth is to share your witness, your testimony for the glory of God, then you’re going to be okay. Everything is going to work out.

“He shall bring forth justice to nations.” “I have put my spirit upon you,” not crying out, not shouting, not making his voice heard in the streets.

It’s funny because in Rome, there was this guy who was shouting, “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,” in the middle of St. Peter’s. Do you need to do that? No, you don’t.

Our children with their little voices, when they began to sing, I looked in the congregation at St. Peter’s Basilica and there were people crying.

The children were exhausted, because it was a mission

When they were exhausted, waking up at five o’clock in the morning, they were not on vacation.

We warned them. This is a mission, to bring joy and hope to whoever needs it. You don’t know who they are.

The number of people that came up to the children and said, “Where are you from? Where are you from? Your voices are so beautiful.” Their broken English from all over the world.

“We’re from Dallas, Texas.”

Can you imagine?

“The Lord will bless his people with peace.” Breathe in, breathe out, and just know, just do your mission.

It’s not about what you have

When this young couple said to me, “Father, we know that we’re not as bad off as other people,” and that there are some people that have more than we do, and some people that have less than we do, and we’re okay, we should be grateful, I said, “No, that’s not it. That’s not it.”

You will never find in Scripture:

• “Blessed are they who live to be a hundred.”

• “Blessed are they who are wealthy.”

You know what they say?

“Blessed are they who know their mission in life.”

I told you, I studied in Rome. I lived in Rome. If it weren’t for the children, if it weren’t for them, the opportunity for them to say hello to the Pope, to get blessed by the Pope, I would not have gone.

“Children, move”: making space for the mission

There was this moment where after he blessed the nativity scene in St. Peter’s Square, he started coming towards the children. I was up in the front.

The mission. What’s the mission?

“Children, get forward. Move out. Everybody, move.”

There’s a picture of me way in the back with my camera like this, and the children are up in the front.

Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, and a child’s faith

When we went to Rome, we visited a small basilica. I used to go there all the time because I used to teach at one Catholic school nearby.

It’s called Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, Holy Cross of Jerusalem.

In this basilica there is a piece of the cross of Jesus, a piece of the cross of the good thief, two thorns from the crown of Jesus, and the finger of Thomas.

I remembered all those things, but I had forgotten that there’s the tomb of a little girl, Antonietta Meo, who is a venerable.

The tour guide was explaining to the children, “This little girl was loved in Rome. The people loved her. She had charisma. She was always smiling. She was joyful. She prayed. She loved God.

When she died, the Roman people wanted to bury her in this basilica because they loved her, and she was such a beautiful person.”

We got in the bus, and I told the tour guide, “Give me the microphone.”

I said to everyone, especially the children, “You know why this child, seven years old, was loved? Because she was dying of cancer. She had bone cancer. Painful.”

She dealt with it with such a supernatural heart and soul that the day the doctors told her they would have to amputate her leg, she wrote a letter to Jesus:

“Jesus, whatever you want, I want.”

Whatever you want, I want. Seven years old.

You know why she’s buried in that basilica and not me? Because I would not be able to do that at 60 years old. I would have a hard time. I would imagine that 90% of us would have a hard time.

Jesus, whatever you want, I want.

Her joy, her smile, her happiness was because she had tremendous faith in God, even when she was suffering.

You have to put the two together. You can’t leave out one and just explain the other.

Not only that, she knew what her mission was.

Baptism, walking with Jesus, and hearing the voice

When I was with the couple, I said to them, it’s not what you have. The richest people can be miserable. The poorest people can be happy. It’s who is fulfilling their mission on earth.

If you want to be happy, serve the Lord, baptize yourself in the Lord.

That’s why in the gospel today, walk with Jesus. That’s why in the gospel today, John says to Jesus, “I’m going to baptize you. You have to baptize me.”

Because what is baptism?

There’s the baptismal font. You get baptized in Jesus, and where do you end up? With Jesus.

So John is saying, how can you walk with yourself? How can you be with yourself? You’re already with yourself. You’re already together. You’re already united.

And Jesus says, let it be done. Let’s do it.

What happens when you finally discover the reason why you’re on this earth?

The heavens open, and you’re going to hear a voice:

“This is my beloved child with whom I am well pleased. Listen to them.”

A community that makes the mission possible

My dear brothers and sisters, you make a difference. You make a huge difference.

You don’t have to pay $20,000, $30,000 for an exceptional educational experience. All you need is a community that knows their mission and makes things possible for these children to experience the beauty of the Catholic faith and church.

You can make that possible.

You know that mission.

Amen?