“Can you get me a glass of water?”
“Would you please change the baby’s diaper?”
“Take out the garbage, please.”
“Help your brother with his schoolwork.”
“Please clean your room.”
I spend a lot of time at home, and I have found that God’s mission for me often entails using the “boring” moments of regular life creatively for him. I hate doing disgusting chores and repetitive tasks (I’m positive I’ll never like doing them); but, it is possible for me to use them for something more. Oftentimes I feel that the Holy Spirit prompts me to offer up my frustrations and impatience so that God can use them to further his mission. Usually this lessens my bad mood and makes what I’m doing more enjoyable.
Offering the whole day as a prayer, regardless of where or how you live, is the best sort of mission. This practice has taught me to see the little tasks and general busyness of ordinary life as God sees them: they are part of a much larger masterpiece. My home is a great place to serve Christ. Everyday menial tasks, when offered to Jesus, can become an extraordinary sacrifice for the salvation of many. Instead of griping always about washing the dishes or doing the laundry, doing them cheerfully and offering that to God for a sick neighbor or my parish priest gives purpose to the sacrifice.
This mission may seem simple but it requires trust. I can only do it by relying on God for strength and courage, and the saints for inspiration. My home mission is not exciting or easy, but it can be rewarding.
—Marie V.
Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta is attributed with writing, “Stay where you are. Find your own Calcutta. Find the sick, the suffering, and the lonely right there where you are—in your own homes and in your own families, in your workplaces and in your schools.” What are some needs in your community? How can you serve the people in your neighborhood and school?
“It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching,” said Saint Francis of Assisi. How is the Lord inviting you to make your daily life and its chores—your walking—a witness to Christ?