The word "missionary" conjures up the notion of a person who

leaves his or her home to go to a foreign land to bring the Word of God to other people and other cultures. We think of men and women who go where Jesus is not known.

So what was Blessed William Joseph Chaminade thinking when he asked for the title Missionary Apostolic? He had no intention of going to another land. He was staying in France to enflesh Christ in a people who already knew of God and the Son that changed everything.

Isabella Moyer lives in Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. She may leave her Faith and Family Community in Winnipeg to represent North America in the International Organization of Marianist Lay Communities, but her mission is at home in Canada. Isabella understands what it is to be a follower of Chaminade - to be a Marianist.

Mission doesn't mean you go away. To be a Marianist means that like Mary, you say "Yes!" to bringing Christ to wherever you are. Isabella does just that.