Go, make disciples of all the nations.
I am with you always; yes, to the end of time. MT 28:19, 20
My Soul's Beloved,
We are created in Your image and likeness, and we are made for eternity. Your Word tells me that You knew me before I was formed in my mother's womb. Your knowledge of me is intimate. Nothing about me is hidden from You. You know me better than I know myself, and this is why You only give me what is good and needful. You created me for a purpose and for a mission. My life must be a testament of Your love, Your power, Your goodness, and Your loving and abiding presence. You, O Lord, to be known and loved by all, and my witness to this truth will, in some measure, help others to desire to have the same relationship with You as well.
None of us who are baptized and are declared children of God by adoption can ignore the command given to us to spread the Good News of God's love. I am equipped to do so by the fact that I have experienced Your goodness and mercy, and I need to tell others simply. I do not need to have any fancy credentials; the only one needed is the knowledge that I belong to Your mystical body, and I was created for joy with You in this life and eternally.
Our true purpose is to live our lives in such a way that when we die, You will come to lead us to Your Kingdom in heaven.
The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’
I said, ‘Ah, Lord; look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’
But the Lord replied,
‘Do not say, “I am a child.”
Go now to those to whom I send you
and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to protect you –
it is the Lord who speaks!’
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:
‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.
Look, today I am setting you
over nations and over kingdoms,
to tear up and to knock down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’
PSALM 95(96):1-3,7-8,10
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
The word of the Lord was addressed to me, saying,
‘Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
before you came to birth I consecrated you;
I have appointed you as prophet to the nations.’
I said, ‘Ah, Lord; look, I do not know how to speak: I am a child!’
But the Lord replied,
‘Do not say, “I am a child.”
Go now to those to whom I send you
and say whatever I command you.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to protect you –
it is the Lord who speaks!’
Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me:
‘There! I am putting my words into your mouth.
Look, today I am setting you
over nations and over kingdoms,
to tear up and to knock down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.’
PSALM 95(96):1-3,7-8,10
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
O sing a new song to the Lord,
sing to the Lord all the earth.
O sing to the Lord, bless his name.
Proclaim his help day by day,
tell among the nations his glory
and his wonders among all the peoples.
and his wonders among all the peoples.
Give the Lord, you families of peoples,
give the Lord glory and power;
give the Lord the glory of his name.
give the Lord the glory of his name.
Proclaim to the nations: ‘God is king.’
The world he made firm in its place;
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
he will judge the peoples in fairness.
Proclaim the wonders of the Lord among all the peoples.
1 CORINTHIANS 9:16-19,22-23
My Soul's Beloved,
My Soul's Beloved,
It is God who ordained who would receive the privilege of being born into a Catholic home, of parents, and receive the wonderful and free gift of baptism. Grafted onto Your Body, I am a child of God, and this truth alone places certain obligations on me. I must be a living testament of the grace and gift I have received. My life must be modelled on the Beatitudes. I must obey the Commandments of God, all of them; I cannot cherry-pick convenient ones and ignore the rest. I am a daughter of the Most High, I am espoused to You, the Church is my home, and I must be a faithful member of the household of God.
I cannot do this on my own, Lord. This is why You gave me brothers and sisters in this Church who will help me and whom I will help on our pilgrim journey from here to eternity. Stay with me, Lord, especially as I grow older, the road is narrow and difficult. Keep my hand firmly in Yours so I neither stumble nor fall by the wayside nor be lost. Thank You.
I do not boast of preaching the gospel, since it is a duty which has been laid on me; I should be punished if I did not preach it! If I had chosen this work myself, I might have been paid for it, but as I have not, it is a responsibility which has been put into my hands. Do you know what my reward is? It is this: in my preaching, to be able to offer the Good News free, and not insist on the rights which the gospel gives me.
So though I am not a slave of any man I have made myself the slave of everyone so as to win as many as I could. For the weak I made myself weak: I made myself all things to all men in order to save some at any cost; and I still do this, for the sake of the gospel, to have a share in its blessings.
LUKE 10:1-9
My Soul's Beloved,
Many of us live in parts of the world where persecution of Christians is rampant. In some places, it is worse than others. I can be overt or covert and can be done very subtly. The same opportunities are not available to us. We can be sidelined on the flimisiest of excuses; the same opportunities are not available to us, we are often ignored, overlooked, or openly discriminated against. But this must come as no surprise to us, for You warned us that if You, our Lord and Master, were subject to such a heinous and brutal death, we Your disciples and servants can expect no less nor ought we to.
The life of a Christian is one in which we make You known and loved by the way we live our lives. When we stay close to Holy Mother Church, are nourished by her through the Sacraments You instituted, if we obey her doctrines and precepts, we can be sure that we will shed Your light in some measure in a darkened world.
Help us, Lord, to remain faithful labourers in Your vineyard to the end.
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.”’
No comments:
Post a Comment