Do I have a personal mission or is that something that I can choose to take on if I think it’s right for me?

Well, I guess the answer to that really lies in whether or not I believe I have a purpose and identity in this life. We, as Christian Catholics know that it is pretty clear that we at least have a collective mission to be disciples of Christ, this comes with the responsibility to imitate Christ and bring Him to others. But do we have a personal mission?

If I consider the first basic truth about who I am, then what follows should support a clear understanding of where my mission lies in the level of importance.

So, what is the question we should consider –

Who am I?

Simple. Yet, profound in the sense that “who I am” ultimately encompasses the entirety of my identity and purpose.

“God created mankind in His image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Gen. 1:27)

We were created in the image and likeness of God, and thus we ARE in a real sense sharers in the mission of God. Our mission, therefore, is not something that we can choose to omit or embrace in our life, it is not something we take on as an accessory to our already fulfilled life. It is a foundational part of our identity as sons and daughters of the Father, and as brothers in Christ Jesus. It is necessary in order to truly live out the life that God intended us to live.

1. Our collective mission as disciples of Jesus: “By Baptism [the baptized] share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal MISSION” CCC 1268

1. Our personal mission: “Confirmation. . . imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark . . . the sign that Jesus Christ has marked a Christian with the seal of his Spirit by clothing him with power from on high so that he may be his witness.” CCC 1304

Simply put, our mission is to Know God, love God, and serve God. And by receiving the Sacraments we are willingly putting on the armor of God in order to carry out the mission that He has entrusted to us.

And yes, you do have a personal mission. The Holy Spirit imprints in each of us a singular mission, a singular and unrepeatable expression of his Love that only you can carry out, that is particular to you as an individual.

Through Confirmation we are sealed by His grace and presence so that we could more perfectly carry out the gifts and entrustments that God gave us, and to recognize what they are so that we can fulfill them wholly. And it is primarily through our relationship with Him that we come to know how He wishes to use us for his glory.

It is only through prayer that we can mature in our knowledge of what God is singularly asking of us, it is only by His grace that we can overcome our humanity in order to embrace that which God has entrusted to us: “Recall then that you have received the spiritual seal. . . Guard what you have received . . . Christ the Lord has confirmed you and has placed the Spirit in your hearts.” (St. Ambrose, De myst.)