Relying on Christ Crucified: The Heart of Mission

Icon of Bishop Lambert created by Cecilia Lawrence for LHC-LA.

Our congregation, the Lovers of the Holy Cross of Los Angeles, commissioned Cecilia Lawrence to create an icon of our founder, Bishop Pierre Lambert de la Motte, a 17th-century French Bishop.  To break with the patronage system, which had bound missionaries to a particular country, the Holy See sent him as the first Apostolic Vicar to the Far East to evangelize. 

The crucifix, which he holds in one hand, and the bishop’s staff in the other tell the story of how he allowed himself to be completely dependent on the promptings of the Holy Spirit to preach Christ Crucified. Like Saint Paul, Bishop Lambert approached evangelization with the conviction that evangelization and missionary fruitfulness belong to God alone. Saint Paul writes to the Corinthians: “I came to you in weakness and fear and much trembling, and my message and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of Spirit and power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God” (1 Cor 2:3-5). Echoing this same conviction, Lambert writes, “the conversion of souls being solely within His power; the means concerning these Divine functions must be proportionate to their end, which is why He alone can inspire.” Since God is the end, Christ is the perfect means proportionate to God. Thus, the perfect means is not the best podcast, book, or program, but becoming like Christ in what we say, think, and do. As a result, like Saint Paul, Bishop Lambert approached the people he encountered with holy fear and humility.

Lambert’s greatest fear was not the threat of persecution, but the fear of himself -of not imitating Christ Crucified enough. This is evident in his repeated offers to resign if the Holy Father believed it best for the growth of the missions. Unlike today, communication with Rome was not instant. What was instant was reliance on the promptings of the Holy Spirit, which is why the Holy Spirit is at the center of his bishop's staff. Saint Paul and Bishop Lambert’s invitation to us as evangelists today is to rely on Christ Crucified as the perfect and only means of evangelization, with a heavy reliance on the promptings of the Holy Spirit.