A Missionary from St. Columbkille

Ed Rubin is a missionary from our parish who is serving with FOCUS serving at the University of St. Thomas. Here is a little bit he told us about his work:

While there are many phrases that might be used to describe my work on campus with FOCUS (the Fellowship of Catholic University Students), I believe it can be expressed very simply and accurately with the words relational ministry. This idea is found quite explicitly in scripture, as St. Paul writes: “So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us” (1 Thessalonians 2.8, RSV).

Last weekend we had a pretty great adventure. Several times each semester we try to have a men's night (or what the men have renamed 'Man Night'). This past Saturday was our final Man Night of the 2009 spring semester. We challenged the students involved in leadership to take a more active role in the planning and running of this event, and after some brain storming, the idea that was chosen was to carry a large wooden cross from our campus to the Cathedral downtown, which is a bit over two miles.

The cross ended up being twelve feet tall, eight feet wide, and about five inches thick. It was quite heavy. The point of it was to illustrate how we must each carry our cross (Matthew 10:38 and Matthew 16:24), but that we must not try to be entirely independent. We have been placed in communities because we will need others along our walk. The importance and example of Christian community is well shown in Acts 4:32 and Acts 2:41-47. One of the main references of the night was Proverbs 27:17: Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.

After our student leaders helped to build the cross a few days early, we met up Saturday evening to carry the cross with several other men. We slowly made our way along the sidewalk toward our destination, and met many people along the way. It was a great reminder that our walk is not a private one. Many of us had built it up to be a very powerful personal experience, and our independence was quickly shattered by the need to rely on others and the frequent shouts, honks, and questions from passers-by.

Near the end of our journey, we met a man named Victor who is homeless. Victor is a man of great faith and offered his help in carrying the cross. When we had reached the destination, Victor was still ready to hang out and pray and talk and eat. Thus we quickly found ourselves sharing pizza with two new friends who had been living on the street for some time. This was not at all planned, but I think it was God showing us that if we are going to walk the streets with a giant cross, we are going to have to actually live out our faith. What we do to the least of our brethren, we do to Jesus, and what we refuse to the least among us, we refuse to Christ (Matthew 25). We spoke about Christian community, picked up our cross, and God presented us with an opportunity to have genuine Christian fellowship that was not based on socio-economic comfort.

The walk and meal afterward were at times a bit tense. Some of the men were uncomfortable. And some were mad. And after our guests parted, we had a very good discussion about the evening. There was friction, but as was the point of the night, iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Friction is necessary for sharpening. And sharpening is necessary for eternal life.

My inspiration to get involved with FOCUS really came from my experiences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While I have had been involved with my faith from my youth, in high school and college I definitely wandered a bit from a truly following Christ and the Church. This deviation came to its peak at college, and rather than finding the freedom and enjoyment I expected, I only found more emptiness and desire for something greater. Another student began investing in me around this time, inviting me to hang out with him and attend his Catholic Bible study, and this really opened the door to a conversion that I did not even realize I needed. Not only did I experience the joy, peace, and meaning that Christ offers us in Himself and His Catholic Church, but I was able to witness a similar conversion in one of my best friends, a man who is now entering the seminary. I had a front seat to two conversions: my own and that of my best friend, and in both cases I saw how they were purely through the grace of God, but also that God chooses to work through man. On college campuses the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are very few. Just seeing the Holy Spirit work through all my imperfections to stir the hearts of others was enough to show me that two years with FOCUS would certainly be worthwhile and fruitful.