So we fasted and besought our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty. — Ezra 8:23

Mission is fundamental to the life of the Church. Following the Lord’s Resurrection, He called the Church to her primary mission: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen” (Mt. 28:19-20). Referred to as the Great Commission, these “marching orders” form the basis of the Church’s common life and ministry to bring all men to the knowledge and love of Christ by incorporation into the supernatural society of the Mystical Body through baptism and through ongoing spiritual formation as disciples of the Risen One. This work is not done alone but is conducted jointly by all members of Christ’s Body in union with Christ our Head who is “with [us] alway.”

The parish is the center of this missional life. It is where we are trained and formed as disciples. It is where we grow together “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). As such, it should be a place where people come to encounter Christ and where they find the transformed and transforming life of the Kingdom being lived in a radical and welcoming way. It should be a place where those seeking Christ find an invitation into the grace-filled adventure of following Him.

But the parish cannot fulfill this missional vocation simply on the basis of ideas and church-y catchphrases; rather, we must dedicate ourselves intentionally to the work of mission. The first and most important aspect of this work is to take responsibility for our own spiritual formation. Grace is not magic; to be effective in us, it requires the cooperation of our wills. In baptism we have been given the power and capacity to grow in Christ, but we must avail ourselves of the tools given us for this work—namely, the Sacraments, the Scriptures, good works, and the spiritual disciplines. Through our own individual spiritual development and the corporate spiritual development of the parish, we shall find ourselves properly equipped for mission, for we shall then be a community prepared to witness to Christ in our midst and to welcome all those who “travail and are heavy-laden” with the cares and sorrows of the world (Mt. 11:28).

No Christian undertaking should be endeavored without prayer. The formation of a mission community at St. Edward’s requires deliberate prayer for the spiritual increase of the parish. To this end, we are making available the Litany for Missions produced by the Diocese of the Holy Trinity. This brief litany focuses on the specific needs of the parish with respect to mission. It may be offered as a stand-alone prayer or in conjunction with the Daily Office (to be used immediately after the “Collect for Grace” at Morning Prayer or the “Collect for Aid against Perils” at Evening Prayer). I will be praying this litany at Morning Prayer every Wednesday morning.

Likewise, fasting for this intention offers a way to amplify these prayers. In the Scriptures, it is often acknowledged that prayer with fasting has great spiritual efficacy (see, e.g., Ezra 8:23, Mt. 17:21). In voluntarily giving up some corporeal good for the sake of something greater, we become better able to re-orient our desires toward that greater good. Traditionally, fasting from food (generally understood as taking one full meal in a day, supplemented if necessary by one or two smaller meals) has been the Church’s norm. However, any act of deliberate self-renunciation of a licit good (such as social media use) can be beneficial for this purpose, so long as it is intentional and consistent. In addition to praying for missions, I will also fast for this purpose on Wednesdays.

I invite everyone to commit to prayer and fasting for our parish mission. If you intend to engage in this discipline, please let me know, so that I may pray for you in this joint work. May the Lord bless us with the abundance of His mercy and grace, that we may “be … transformed by the renewing of [our] mind, that [we] may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

—Fr. Corey+