Friday, August 22, 2025
Memorial of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary
My sisters and brothers in the Lord,
Welcome to week thirty-four of BMW, Be My Witnesses. Now we begin our three weeks of mission activity. Prayer and learning and knowing we belong to the bigger Church does not mean we can just sit around. We must be those witnesses to others.
Mission: Find a colleague to mission with
We have been reflecting on the indwelling of a community of divine persons and have asked those divine persons to help us be fruitful, to discern what God’s will might be for us this day and every day. Let us listen now to what is next: “He went around to the villages in the vicinity teaching. He summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits” (Mark 6:6-7).
There are many who claim to be Christian who do not participate in a Christian community just as there are many who claim to be spiritual but do join with others in spiritual activities. I am not sure what Jesus would say about this except that he wanted his disciples to stick together, to go two by two. We who are Catholic, who recognize that we belong to the Body of Christ, the Church, know that our lived faith must be exercised in communion with other sisters and brothers.
Now it seems clear that Jesus probably paired up the disciples for their missionary work. He also places in our path others who invite us or who join us for this sacred task. We must be attentive and not miss those opportunities. A major part of our missionary activity is to know that this is the work of Jesus himself through us, so we really have to be attentive to those he places in our midst.
It may be a spouse, an adult child, a neighbor, or someone we have considered a stranger at our parish. Yet, we are both convinced that Jesus is Lord, that he suffered and died for us and rose from the dead. This good news deserves to be spread so that all may be saved. Let us then be sent forth by the Lord two by two.
This week's challenge
For this week’s challenge, for many of us, we probably already have someone in mind whom we can seek out who would make a good co-disciple, a co-evangelist. Then, let the two of us find some very simple, easy mission this week that will express our faith for others to see. If no one comes to mind as a partner in this holy work, then pray and be alert to the one God will most likely send.
Until next week, may God Bless you.
+ Earl Boyea
Bishop of Lansing
P.S. Here is a video version of this week's Be My Witnesses. Please do share with friends and family. Thank you.