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me. Mission is experienced in fellowship with our communities and with the whole Church. If weturn aside from the community, we will be turning aside from Jesus. If we turn our back on thecommunity, our friendship with Jesus will grow cold. This is a fact, and we must never forget it.Love for the brothers and sisters of our communities %u2013 religious, parochial, diocesan and others %u2013is a kind of fuel that feeds our friendship with Jesus. Our acts of love for our brothers and sisters incommunity may well be the best and, at times, the only way that we can witness to others our lovefor Jesus Christ. He himself said, %u201cBy this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you havelove for one another%u201d (Jn 13:35).213. This love then becomes service within the community. I never tire of repeating that Jesus toldus this in the clearest terms possible: %u201cJust as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren,you did it to me%u201d (Mt 25:40). He now asks you to meet him there, in every one of our brothers andsisters, and especially in the poor, the despised and the abandoned members of society. What abeautiful encounter that can be!214. If we are concerned with helping others, this in no way means that we are turning away fromJesus. Rather, we are encountering him in another way. Whenever we try to help and care foranother person, Jesus is at our side. We should never forget that, when he sent his disciples onmission, %u201cthe Lord worked with them%u201d (Mk 16:20). He is always there, always at work, sharing ourefforts to do good. In a mysterious way, his love becomes present through our service. He speaksto the world in a language that at times has no need of words.215. Jesus is calling you and sending you forth to spread goodness in our world. His call is one ofservice, a summons to do good, perhaps as a physician, a mother, a teacher or a priest. Whereveryou may be, you can hear his call and realize that he is sending you forth to carry out that mission.He himself told us, %u201cI am sending you out%u201d (Lk 10:3). It is part of our being friends with him. For thisfriendship to mature, however, it is up to you to let him send you forth on a mission in this world,and to carry it out confidently, generously, freely and fearlessly. If you stay trapped in your owncomfort zone, you will never really find security; doubts and fears, sorrow and anxiety will alwaysloom on the horizon. Those who do not carry out their mission on this earth will find not happiness,but disappointment. Never forget that Jesus is at your side at every step of the way. He will notcast you into the abyss, or leave you to your own devices. He will always be there to encourageand accompany you. He has promised, and he will do it: %u201cFor I am with you always, to the end ofthe age%u201d (Mt 28:20).216. In your own way, you too must be a missionary, like the apostles and the first disciples ofJesus, who went forth to proclaim the love of God, to tell others that Christ is alive and worthknowing. Saint Therese experienced this as an essential part of her oblation to merciful Love: %u201cIwanted to give my Beloved to drink and I felt myself consumed with a thirst for souls%u201d. [227] That isyour mission as well. Each of us must carry it out in his or her own way; you will come to see howyou can be a missionary. Jesus deserves no less. If you accept the challenge, he will enlighten50