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May 6, 2021Impulse Missionaries in the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City is a new opportunity for young adults to enhance their faith and form their evangelization skills to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with the world.
“These young people take a year or more to pray, to serve, to learn and to grow. Part of the goal of Impulse Missionaries is to help train people to live the Christian life for the rest of their lives. The second aim is using it in ministry,” said Joe Cipriano, director of Youth Young Adult and Campus Evangelization and Discipleship for the archdiocese.
Cipriano explained that part of the history of Impulse Missionaries comes from a quote from Pope Francis who said, “I dream of a missionary option that is a missionary impulse, capable of transforming everything.”
“That is part of what we are called to do in ministry, part of what we are hoping with Impulse Missionaries is that people follow that missionary impulse to go and spread the gospel, and go out to the lives of young people, and invite them into a relationship with Christ, instead of just sitting back and waiting,” Cipriano said.
“It is a pretty crucial time in the Church, where if we just leave people to the culture, they are not going to follow the faith. They need to have a significant intervention in their faith. The art of living the faith in a way that is attractive and spreading the gospel everywhere is the goal.”
Impulse missionaries commit to one year of mission. The mission year begins in June and ends in May of the following year.
Although the goals of Impulse Missionaries are beneficial to all who participate, the biggest obstacle for the ones who join is committing a year and the schedule.
“As young adults, there is an expectation to be productive financially, and start earning and supporting their family. The message that the world gives is go to school, get good grades, get into a good college, get a good job, and make a lot of money. Putting pause on that narrative to say, ‘I want to learn how to pray, how to live a fruitful life as a person, and how to spread the gospel with people,’ is a kind of rejection of the social narrative we are hearing from our entire culture,” Cipriano said. “It is really hard to pause that. It feels like a lot of pressure to keep following that story.”
For those who participate for a year, it is a life-changing experience. Although the entire year is mentorship, summertime is specifically focused on training the missionaries. Their goal over the summer is to have the missionaries practice everything Impulse Missionaries are going to ask them to do throughout the year.
Julia Lopez is a current Impulse Missionary.
“The most fulfilling part about being a missionary is witnessing the Lord work in the hearts of the students. I’ve been able to see students return to the Sacrament of Reconciliation after years of being away. I’ve been able to walk with students who have started opening their heart to discerning a religious vocation,” Lopez said.
“One of my favorite parts about being a missionary is leading Bible studies. In college, being in a Bible study played a big role in my own deeper conversion. There is something special about being in a small group of women who are all striving for holiness together. I love witnessing those ‘aha’ moments when you can visibly see the Lord converting someone’s heart.”
She added that she leans on John 15:5, which says, “Apart from me, you can do nothing.”
“The work I do as a missionary, the students that I get to invest in, the Bible studies I get to lead would bear no fruit if I tried to do it without Jesus. He has to be the one in control, he is the one at work, he is the one touching people’s hearts, and I am only participating in the mission,” Lopez said.
She said she believes anytime people give the Lord a “yes,” no matter how big or small it may feel, there will be fruit.
She added that something that everyone has to learn to be okay with, especially those working in ministry, is the reality that missionaries may not always get to see the fruit of their labor.
“Our job is to provide opportunities for encounter with the Lord, and respond to his promptings when ministering to people, but we have to let him do the rest. Ultimately, he is the one who will convert people’s hearts,” she said.
To those who are interested in participating, Cipriano explained what Impulse Missionaries looks for in candidates.
“We ask that they be over 21, be practicing Catholics, that they would be teachable, really want to learn and are willing to learn. We are looking for people who are gospel centered,” he explained.
Cipriano added they say a Novena that talks about the Scripture that Impulse Missionaries uses, and people can pray that young adults are sent to be a part of Impulse Missionaries.
Jolene Schonchin is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.
For more information, visit impulsemissionaries.org
Photo: Impulse Missionary Julia Lopez and Rachel Smith, UCO campus ministry coordinator. Photo provided.
Novena to the Holy Spirit and St. Joseph
O Holy Spirit, Divine Consoler!
I adore you as my true God.
I offer You my whole heart,
and I render you heartfelt thanks for all the benefits
You have bestowed and do unceasingly bestow upon the world.
You are the author of all supernatural gifts
who did enrich with immense favors the souls
of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph,
I beseech you to visit me by Your grace and Your love,
and grant me the favor
I so earnestly seek in this novena …
that God would send faithful young people to serve as Impulse Missionaries.
Blessed Joseph, to us too,
show yourself a father.
Remember, most pure spouse of Mary, ever Virgin,
my loving protector, St. Joseph,
that no one ever had recourse to your protection
or asked for your aid without obtaining relief.
Confiding, therefore, in your goodness,
I come before you and humbly implore you.
Despise not my petitions,
foster-father of the redeemer,
but graciously receive them. Amen.
Hail Mary full of grace …
______________ ________________ ______________
Please write three names of people you want to invite to join the mission.
Day 1 Jeremiah 20:9
I say I will not mention him, I will no longer speak in his name. But then, it is as if fire is burning in my heart, imprisoned in my bones; I grow weary holding back, I cannot!
Day 2 Acts 4:19-20
Peter and John, however, said to them in reply, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”
Day 3 Matthew 28:19-20
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.”
Day 4 Romans 10:14-15
How can they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can people preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the Good News!
Day 5 John 15:16
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you.
Day 6 Luke 10:1-2
The Lord appointed 72 others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.
Day 7 Acts 1:8
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Day 8 Romans 12:9
Let love be sincere; hate what is evil, hold on to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; anticipate one another in showing honor. Do not grow slack in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.
Day 9 1 Corinthians 9:16
If I preach the gospel, this is no reason for me to boast, for an obligation has been imposed on me, and woe to me if I do not preach it!
