Last week I got to attend the Parish Mission here at Sacred Heart. Now for this story to have more meaning, we need to be on the same page about the meaning of mission. Mission refers to a goal, purpose, or destination that one is sent to, driven to, or dedicated to achieving. As Christians we refer to mission in the context of being sent to some place with the sole purpose of evangelizing, and bringing people closer to Christ regardless if that place be our home parish, our home town, or another country.
So when we talk about a Parish Mission, in my mind someone was being sent to us to bring us closer to Christ. In this particular case, it was the Capuchin Sisters from Williamsport who were sent to us, and what a blessing they brought to Sacred Heart indeed!
That Sunday evening when the Sisters were giving the Mission, at first it was very much what one would expect: Simple music, opening prayer, and some teaching given by one of the Sisters. However I believe that most people who attended would say that the most moving part would have been the procession around the church.
The sisters explained that our whole lives were a pilgrimage to God, and so we were going to process around the church, lead by Father Bill who represents Christ, and at the end, we were each going to pick a piece of paper out of a bowl which had a saints name on it. The Sisters explained that when we picked t his Saint, it was not going to be us picking a Saint, but rather a Saint who was picking us. A Saint who wanted to pray for us, because in some way shape or form they could relate to what we were experiencing, or who we were as people. Needless to say this was a bold claim, but after the evening was over and everyone started talking about who their Saints were, that is when the stories started coming forth.