Psalm 85
Ephesians 1:3-14
Mark 6:7-13
"Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them"
God sends His Son Jesus for a mission. As Jesus was sent, so He also summons Twelve apostles and sends them for the same mission. It is in this mission that obedience and poverty are also practiced. These are the three Christian ideals that go together, and should be part of every "missionary". Jesus embodied these ideals in His life and person. He practiced them first in His life as a poor, itinerant preacher. He summoned the Twelve to follow Him, and they obey in the spirit of their Master's zeal and radical poverty. It is this missionary spirit that enkindles every missionary in the Church to go forth into the world to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom.
The lay faithful are also called to share in this mission by virtue of their baptismal consecration. We are called to sanctify the secular realities we find ourselves in. Sanctification is not an easy, nor pleasure-filled process because it entails purification - both on the part of the missionary and on the people who receive God's Word. It involves discipline, perseverance, sacrifices and a conversion experience that can become unsettling at first. All of us undergo this purifying process. We are called to understand how our faith calls us to make God's Word and Sacrament fruitful in our lives and in our works. The call to sanctify the very realities we are immersed in have their rootedness in Jesus. The more we are rooted in Christ, the more our mission leads to life. Christ is the Life of the mission. Our mission is to live that Life.
Christian life is celebrated in the Sacraments through our ordained ministers. We can also be integrated more deeply into this life by joining parish-based lay ministries. These are established spiritual paths to make Christ known to others. Prayer is always primary in these spiritual paths. All apostolic activity flows from this basic attitude. Whether we act in family or in work, or add involvement in parish-based lay ministries, we need to be rooted in Christ through prayer. Only if we do so will all our actions bear fruit in the Holy Spirit. The success of our works will produce the humility, understanding, patience, hope, and charity of Christ. This rootedness in Christ in prayer, the Sacraments, and ordinary work is the simplest path to join the Church in mission, obedience and poverty.
The lay faithful are also called to share in this mission by virtue of their baptismal consecration. We are called to sanctify the secular realities we find ourselves in. Sanctification is not an easy, nor pleasure-filled process because it entails purification - both on the part of the missionary and on the people who receive God's Word. It involves discipline, perseverance, sacrifices and a conversion experience that can become unsettling at first. All of us undergo this purifying process. We are called to understand how our faith calls us to make God's Word and Sacrament fruitful in our lives and in our works. The call to sanctify the very realities we are immersed in have their rootedness in Jesus. The more we are rooted in Christ, the more our mission leads to life. Christ is the Life of the mission. Our mission is to live that Life.
Christian life is celebrated in the Sacraments through our ordained ministers. We can also be integrated more deeply into this life by joining parish-based lay ministries. These are established spiritual paths to make Christ known to others. Prayer is always primary in these spiritual paths. All apostolic activity flows from this basic attitude. Whether we act in family or in work, or add involvement in parish-based lay ministries, we need to be rooted in Christ through prayer. Only if we do so will all our actions bear fruit in the Holy Spirit. The success of our works will produce the humility, understanding, patience, hope, and charity of Christ. This rootedness in Christ in prayer, the Sacraments, and ordinary work is the simplest path to join the Church in mission, obedience and poverty.
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