Come See Go Tell

Jesus appeared to the Eleven and he said to them, ‘Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation.'
Mk.16:15

Jesus gives his final command to the Apostles before his ascension. The command is simple. Go tell.

If I had to distill all that Jesus commands of the Church it would come down to two things. Come see and go tell.  'Come see' as he invited the two disciples of John the Baptist. 'Go and tell' as he commands the Apostles in today's Gospel. 

Everything that happens in my parish should be either an extension of the invitation to come and see, or a response to the command to go and tell. This is our DNA, defining what we are here for. It's our mission.

The Church is the only organisation whose primary purpose is for the benefit of its non-members. Is my parish in mission mode with an outward focus or in an introspective maintenance mode? Or, to bring it closer to home, am I a missionary or a maintenance man?

Saint Francis Xavier, please pray for us.