There Is Still Work To Be Done

Dear Msgr. Anthony Brouwers,

They told you it couldn’t be done.  Overseas mission: that is the work of priests, brothers and sisters.  That is not for lay people! Even the great Bishop Fulton Sheen opposed you when you asked for his support. Yet here we are, more than 60 years later, continuing the legacy you left behind.

We live in a different world than yours. You set out the work of Lay Mission-Helpers at a time when we were witnessing the destructive powers of the human intellect on a global scale. While we continue to live in these shadows, the scale is much smaller, relatively speaking.  Terrorist attacks and mass shootings are not the same as atomic bombs, but instill just as much fear.

However, as St. John’s Gospel says, love casts aside fear. I have had the privilege of talking to some of the first missionaries that you sent out. They were plenty nervous — just as ours are today — yet they went.  And still they go. They respond to that mantra you heard over and over again from the mission bishops you visited in 1954: “We need help!” 

They continue to swab the wounded Body of Christ in the farthest corners of the globe; and they continue to be transformed by the experience, receiving as much, usually more, than they give. God’s world has become a better place because of your vision. 

But some things do not change: there is still work to be done. Requests for Lay Mission-Helpers continue to come in, and the words of Jesus still ring true, “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” 

My prayer as I write is this: may the missionary heart you instilled in so many people continue to be implanted whenever and wherever the story of Lay Mission-Helpers is told. May God continue to call forth faith-filled women and men to serve in the missions, and may our efforts bring greater love and compassion to God’s world.

Until we meet one day, Msgr. Brouwers, we remain faithfully in Christ,

Chad Ribordy

On behalf of Lay Mission-Helpers