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     I have been in ordained ministry 48 years and more than half of that has been spent working in campus ministry.  I can testify to the good example that has been given to me by students over and over again.  Some of them have become friends of more than 40 years standing, and they are still giving good example to me.  There are now several Catholic organizations that train recent college graduates to evangelize among students on campuses around the USA.  One of them, FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students), is present here at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, TX, where I reside.  Each member of the team is expected to raise his or her own living expenses from resources in their home parishes.  They serve for a two year term and then move on to ordinary life in the working world.  Their example could serve to inspire older Catholics to do the same.  

     Each of us, by virtue of our baptism, is called to evangelize by good example and daily witness.  But to take time from life and career to engage in an intentional missionary effort is truly special.  One might wish it would become "ordinary!"  Lay Missionaries are not new.  Many missionary religious orders like Maryknoll (foreign missions) and Glenmary (domestic) have lay missionary programs.  Campus ministry programs around the country sponsor mission trips to assist in poor parishes in the USA and abroad.  When I see recent graduates give up two years of their lives at their own expense to bear intentional witness to their faith on a secular campus, I see St. Paul's exhortation to Timothy come to life and give thanks for it.  AMEN