It was a warm spring afternoon in March and I was kneeling in front of the Eucharist trying to pray about what I was going to do with my life after graduation from college – looming only weeks away. I desperately wanted to be a missionary, spreading the good news and doing the work of the Church.
But reality was much different. I knew I needed a job. But my job search wasn’t what distracted my prayers that day – it was an idea that had been slowly forming for months . . . or maybe years. The idea was to start a Catholic organization to lead short-term mission trips for working adults and families.
I soon gave up on my prayer and went to talk to my friends. I casually mentioned my idea to my friend, Ryan Woodard, and he immediately became serious about starting an organization. A few weeks later we discerned the name: Commissioned by Christ. We decided that the name most embodied what we were being called to do – follow Christ’s great commission to go out into the world.
My hope for CBC’s future is to become the go-to international Catholic organization bringing Catholics closer to Christ by leading short-term mission trips for working adults and families. We will have simultaneous trips running year-round from multiple parishes and dioceses throughout the US.
CBC will build relationships with international Catholic mission sites, religious orders, and communities by returning year after year. And will work to establish new relationships with missions in need of short-term mission teams.
We will have independent offices across the US and internationally reaching out to new parishes and new dioceses to bring more lay Catholics into the mission life of the Church.
My hope for this blog is to start a dialogue about the mission life of the Church. We Catholics should all be aware about how much the Church’s missions accomplish world-wide. How much good God is doing through ordinary people. And the positive impact that a prayerfully prepared mission team can accomplish within a community in the span of a week or 10 days.
The Church does so much charity with so little and constantly shows Her love for the poor. Catholic social teaching is rich in practical and theological concepts about the way we can responsibly live our lives in society. And mission work is one way to bring Catholic social teachings into our everyday lives.
CBC’s ultimate mission is to inspire zeal and love for Christ and the Church throughout the world. And it is my constant prayer that with God as our guide, we will touch millions of lives and bring His Church into a close-knit community.
- Jessica Aldrich, Commissioned by Christ President & CEO
