GOD: THE BEGINNING & END OF ALL THINGS
JESUS: THE CENTER OF MY LIFE
Tonight we recognize, affirm, bless and send off the thirty-two teenagers and college students and 14 adults from St. Therese who tomorrow journey from the hills of western New Jersey to the mountains of Appalachia on this year’s mission trip. They go as our representatives and in God’s name to minister to the Dunlow, West Virginia community to build houses, playgrounds and ballfields, but more than that . . . to build awareness of a God who has not forgotten nor abandoned them; a God knows them intimately, who has counted every hair on their heads, heard their prayers, knows their needs and loves them far more than he does the sparrows, who too rely and depended upon him.
And so, as a physical sign of the blessed and noble task before them, tonight our forty-six missionaries will receive their mission trip cross. On the left and on the right of the cross that they will receive are two Greek letters – the same letters that are on the base of our altar: the Alpha and the Omega. They’re the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and are symbolic of the eternity of God, the One who is the beginning and end of all things. Intertwined at the center of the cross are two more Greek letters: The Chi and the Rho. These are the first two letters of the Greek word CHRIST and is one of the earliest Christian symbols. And so, my friends, by this cross, may you be reminded daily that Christ must be the center of your lives. From the beginning of your journey tomorrow morning when you leave our parking lot, till you return again next Saturday: CHRIST! From the time you wake up early each morning in the coming week, until you shut your eyes in exhaustion that night: CHRIST! From the beginning of one work project to its completion: CHRIST! And from the beginning of your life to the end of your life: CHRIST!
Each of you, either tomorrow or Monday morning will receive a prayer card which I feel speaks so beautifully of what your cross symbolizes. On it is the Breastplate of St. Patrick. I ask you to pray it every day to remind yourself of your noble mission: In part it says:
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Salvation is from the Lord.
Salvation is from the Lord.
Salvation is from the Lord.
