Wednesday 8th July, 2020.
14th week in Ordinary Time – Year II
1st Reading = Hosea 10:1-3.7-8.12 Resp. Psalm = Ps 105:2-7 Gospel = Matthew 10:1-7
Jesus in today’s gospel calls twelve of His disciples by name to be His apostles. He sent them to be go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He gave them power and authority over demons and unclean spirits. This only goes to show the closeness Jesus had with them. The word ‘apostle’ is from the Greek word ‘apostolos’ which means ‘one who is sent.’ Put differently, an apostle is an official representative charged with a commission and a mission, and he empowered by the authorization of the sender rather than the content of the commission and mission.
We too, by our baptism and confirmation, are apostles in a broad sense because we are sent by Jesus to proclaim His good news of salvation and God’s Kingdom. We have been empowered by being confirmed in Christ, to be His soldiers everywhere we are. We as Christians, we should know how to communicate the message of Christ to the different people who are part of our daily living, especially those who have abandoned the right path; they are the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We may not be far better but we must not wait for us to become saints before we offer help.
Dear friends, how often do we pray for those whose lives we would love to see given to Christ? How do we treat such a person who is adamant to change, who may even have gone out of control? Do we abandon them to themselves and say ‘I hand you over to God’ or ‘May the Holy Spirit touch you’ ? But we forget that we are the instruments the Holy Spirit will use to transform such a one. Do we discuss our faith, the doctrine and teachings pf the Church or even the Gospel of the day with our friends? Do we much as make any reference to it in our discussions? If we don’t, how does the person get transformed or at least inspired? What ways do we use for evangelization on such people, if at all we do? Are we patient with them or do we expect transformation to be immediate? Do we carry out evangelization because we just want to get people into our Churches or because we really care about the person’ life? Remember, salvation is partly rooted in morals and worship in the true faith stemming from the ‘Apostles’.
Dear people of God let us not abandon the mission handed to us to the priests and religious around us, but let’s do our own part of the job, for we are all sent and apostles in our little ways. May St Killian (Apostle of Franconia), St Adrian III and the Martyrs of Shanxi, help us to be better apostles beginning from our families and then to the entire world. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Have a great day.
Fr Kevin N. Lereh, M.Ss.Cc Together in Prayer
14th week in Ordinary Time – Year II
1st Reading = Hosea 10:1-3.7-8.12 Resp. Psalm = Ps 105:2-7 Gospel = Matthew 10:1-7
Jesus in today’s gospel calls twelve of His disciples by name to be His apostles. He sent them to be go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He gave them power and authority over demons and unclean spirits. This only goes to show the closeness Jesus had with them. The word ‘apostle’ is from the Greek word ‘apostolos’ which means ‘one who is sent.’ Put differently, an apostle is an official representative charged with a commission and a mission, and he empowered by the authorization of the sender rather than the content of the commission and mission.
We too, by our baptism and confirmation, are apostles in a broad sense because we are sent by Jesus to proclaim His good news of salvation and God’s Kingdom. We have been empowered by being confirmed in Christ, to be His soldiers everywhere we are. We as Christians, we should know how to communicate the message of Christ to the different people who are part of our daily living, especially those who have abandoned the right path; they are the lost sheep of the house of Israel. We may not be far better but we must not wait for us to become saints before we offer help.
Dear friends, how often do we pray for those whose lives we would love to see given to Christ? How do we treat such a person who is adamant to change, who may even have gone out of control? Do we abandon them to themselves and say ‘I hand you over to God’ or ‘May the Holy Spirit touch you’ ? But we forget that we are the instruments the Holy Spirit will use to transform such a one. Do we discuss our faith, the doctrine and teachings pf the Church or even the Gospel of the day with our friends? Do we much as make any reference to it in our discussions? If we don’t, how does the person get transformed or at least inspired? What ways do we use for evangelization on such people, if at all we do? Are we patient with them or do we expect transformation to be immediate? Do we carry out evangelization because we just want to get people into our Churches or because we really care about the person’ life? Remember, salvation is partly rooted in morals and worship in the true faith stemming from the ‘Apostles’.
Dear people of God let us not abandon the mission handed to us to the priests and religious around us, but let’s do our own part of the job, for we are all sent and apostles in our little ways. May St Killian (Apostle of Franconia), St Adrian III and the Martyrs of Shanxi, help us to be better apostles beginning from our families and then to the entire world. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord, Amen.
Have a great day.
Fr Kevin N. Lereh, M.Ss.Cc Together in Prayer
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