Rejoice and be glad; for your reward will be great in heaven. // Matthew 5:12
I had been so discouraged that semester by how little fruit had come from the mission. It was my first year as a missionary and we were serving on a brand new campus under grueling COVID restrictions. We fasted, we prayed, we begged, and yet did not see much movement in the apostolate the first few months. I wanted to see fruit and I wanted to see it now, but as I prayed the Lord began to show me my many imperfect reasons for wanting to see immediate fruit in the apostolate.
Mingled in with my good desires to bring Christ to our students were also my desires for my own reward. It was then I saw in my heart that I wanted my reward for the mission to be given to me now through the visible conversion of my students. In His kindness and through a gentle rebuke, He showed me that much of the fruit of this hidden apostolate which He called me to would not be shown to me as a “reward” for my labors until Heaven. It was an invitation for my heart to be stretched. Would I give everything the Lord was asking me to this mission even if I did not see the fruit of it while still on this earth?
Sister, many of us are laboring arduously in the vineyard for fruit that may not be for us or others to see. This can be discouraging and altogether frustrating. But in today’s Gospel (see Matthew 5:1-12) the Lord encourages us that we will one day be rewarded for our transformation into holiness through our service to Him. Perhaps that will be in your lifetime, perhaps it will not, but rest assured the reward is coming and most important than all of the fruit you bore will be your union with the Bridegroom Himself.
Today bring to Him one area in your heart for which you long to be rewarded. Ask Him to speak into it and surrender to Him that reward which is His to give in His own time and own way.
Mariana Pimiento is a Colombia-born storyteller and artist. She enjoys big dinners with her Colombian family, talking about Theology of the Body, and any chance for a bonfire. The preaching Dominican friars brought her back to the Catholic faith while a student in New York City. Mariana served several years as a FOCUS missionary and now continues college ministry work in Nashville. Find out more about her here.
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