I’ve been thinking a lot about the word mission lately and what it means to be a missionary, and more specifically what that means in modern times.

I guess it is the California Missions I’ve visited that have me thinking about this word. Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary defines mission as “the act or an instance of sending.”

A Missionary, like the ones that built this Mission in Santa Cruz, is “a person who is sent to a foreign country to do religious work (such as to convince people to join a religion or to help people who are sick, poor, etc.).”

And somehow after a  century and a half the missions still serve. They endure, adjusting to their environment and the needs of those they serve without losing their purpose.

This tiny chapel, a replica of the original Mission de la Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) church, sits in a square on a hilltop above the Pacific Ocean; the Santa Cruz boardwalk is a stone’s throw away. I can imagine how it must have been here when the priest arrived, the ocean breeze whipping across the meadow covered plateau, the native people living, working and raising their children off the land.

I entered the chapel through a small gift shop and then an even smaller museum. This is the only open door on weekdays, but it is open and serving the faithful and the lost. A woman was there when I arrived lighting a candle. She stayed for some time, tears welling up in her eyes as she sat before the Tabernacle, some dialogue ensuing between her and the One who resides there.

When I left a woman and her son were visiting the gift shop, they were taking pictures of the old vestments on display for a Fourth-grade Mission project. Outside, the school bus waited for the boy and his classmates who were visiting the state owned Adobe around the corner. The website for Parish Church serves as a portal of information for kids researching the Missions. Though hundreds of years have passed, it is still serving. Standing the test of time, it draws people in; educating our youth and being present with open arms for the few that choose to enter.