Steps to Becoming a Lay Beggars of Christ Missionary
Before we can become missionaries to the world, we must first allow Jesus to become Lord of our own hearts.
Becoming a Lay Beggars of Christ Missionary is not simply about joining a ministry or volunteering for a mission. It is a journey of conversion, healing, surrender, and service.
A Beggar of Christ first comes before Jesus with empty hands, recognizing that everything begins with His mercy and grace.
1. Become a Missionary to Your Own Soul
Your first mission field is your own heart.
Before trying to bring healing to another person, allow Jesus to enter your own wounds. Seek Him through prayer, Sacred Scripture, the Sacraments, Eucharistic Adoration, repentance, forgiveness, and surrender.
Learn to sit before Jesus and ask:
“Lord, who am I in You?”
Discover the “I Am” God created you to be, not the identity the world has given you, not your wounds, failures, accomplishments, possessions, or titles, but the woman God created, knows, and loves.
A Beggar of Christ learns first to receive.
She begs for His mercy.
She receives His healing.
She surrenders to His Holy Will.
And slowly, Jesus transforms her heart.
2. Become a Missionary to Your Own Vocation
Your second mission field may already be standing beside you.
Before traveling across the world to serve Christ, learn to recognize Him within your own home and daily life.
A Beggar of Christ strives to live faithfully in the vocation and responsibilities God has entrusted to her, as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, widow, friend, neighbor, coworker, or member of her community.
Mission does not begin with an airplane ticket.
Mission begins wherever God has placed you.
Sometimes the person who most needs our patience, forgiveness, compassion, or presence is already sitting at our table.
3. Discern the Call
Spend time in prayer asking Jesus whether He is inviting you to walk in the spirituality and mission of the Beggars of Christ.
Learn what it means to become spiritually poor before God.
A Beggar of Christ does not come before Jesus saying, “Look at everything I can give You.”
She comes with empty hands and says:
“Jesus, I have nothing that did not first come from You. I need Your mercy. I need Your grace. I need You.”
This poverty of spirit becomes the foundation of her missionary life.
4. Enter Formation and Discernment
A woman who feels called to become a Lay Beggars of Christ Missionary enters a period of prayer, discernment, learning, and formation.
She begins learning the spirituality, prayer life, mission, expectations, and way of life of the Beggars of Christ.
This is not something to rush.
Discernment gives both the woman and the community time to listen carefully for the voice of God.
The question is not simply:
“Do I want to become a Beggar of Christ?”
The deeper question is:
“Jesus, is this where You are calling me?”
5. Learn the Humility of a Beggar
We do not go into the world believing that we are the rescuers.
We are beggars ourselves.
We have received mercy, therefore we share mercy.
We have experienced wounds, therefore we can sit compassionately beside the wounded.
We have needed forgiveness, therefore we learn to forgive.
We have needed Jesus, therefore we point others toward Jesus.
Jesus saves.
Jesus heals.
Jesus restores.
A Beggar of Christ is simply willing to become an instrument in His hands.
6. Serve Christ in Others
After tending to her spiritual life, faithfully living her own vocation, and completing appropriate formation and discernment, a Lay BOC Missionary may participate in missionary works carried out through Fatima Outreach Foundation and other appropriate opportunities.
These works may include serving the poor, feeding the hungry, assisting vulnerable children and families, human trafficking prevention and survivor support, outreach to women in need, and other corporal and spiritual works of mercy.
We seek to encounter each person not as a project, statistic, or problem to solve, but as a human being created in the image and likeness of God.
7. Become a Beggar Every Day
There is no graduation from needing Jesus.
The deeper we journey with Him, the more we recognize our dependence upon His grace.
Being a Beggar of Christ is therefore not something we turn on when we are doing missionary work.
It becomes a way of life.
Every morning we come before Jesus again with empty hands.
Every day we beg for His mercy.
Every day we surrender our will.
Every day we ask the Holy Spirit to lead us.
And every day we begin again.
The Heart of a Beggar of Christ
Begging for His Mercy.
Surrendering to His Holy Will.
Sharing His Divine Healing with Others.