Tag: <span>Mission</span>

August 2, 2021July 30, 2021

Exasperation

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

If we understood the full scope of our mission as Christians, we may well gripe and moan just as Moses did in the first reading.

Moses had witnessed God’s great forbearance with the Israelites, and His kindness to them in the midst of their ingratitude. He had witnessed how God had sent down not only miraculous bread from heaven, but meat as well in the form of quail. This, after rescuing the Israelites from slavery to their great joy–something that, in this passage at least, they seem to have forgotten about entirely.

Moses is simply done with them. He’s over it. He’s asking God for relief–even if it means the relief of death. He just can’t stand being responsible for them anymore.

We observe the same ingratitude toward God throughout society in our time. What perhaps we don’t always realize, though, is that we have a responsibility analogous to that of Moses–we have a responsibility to bring this unruly lot to salvation, by enabling the application of Jesus’ infinitely powerful act of salvation to them, through our prayer/sacrifice and through our outward action and evangelization.

It may be discouraging. It may be something that we’d like to shirk, like Moses. It may be exasperating. But the Heart of Christ won’t let go of this; He loves them too much.

We see it in today’s gospel. He takes pity on the hungry crowd. He feels pangs of pain at the idea of sending them away when there is more of His message to impart to them. So He feeds them, miraculously, Himself.

How He wants to feed today’s masses the Bread of Life! And He has no means to draw them to Himself. Except you and me.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus for patience and courage to put your shoulder to the plow and keep soldiering on in the work of salvation, never becoming discouraged at the unresponsiveness of the people Jesus loves.

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May 3, 2021April 20, 2021

Proclamation

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

In a way, the readings of today, on the Feast of St. Philip and James, reach their climax in the psalm.

In today’s gospel, Philip’s horizons are broadened–he asks to see the Father, and Jesus explains His own relationship with the Father. But then He goes on to explain the action of the Father, and of the Son. As the Son proclaims the Kingdom of God, it is the Father in Him doing His works. But then He explains to Philip that His disciples will do even greater works, as He returns to the Father–and that whatever they ask in His name will be done. Philip receives the unexpected explanation that He will extend Jesus’ mission, in a glorious way.

In the first reading, which takes place chronologically after the Gospel passage, we hear how Jesus appeared to the Apostles–and James is mentioned by name. So, Jesus not only empowers His disciples to do greater things than He has done; He also reveals His glorious, resurrected self to them. He empowers them; He reveals Himself to them.

It is in the psalm that we discover what Jesus preparation of His disciples leads to. “Their message goes out to all the earth.” “Through all the earth their voice resounds, and to the ends of the world, their message.”

This is what we celebrate on today’s feast: That the effect of the empowering of the disciples, and the revelation of the glorious resurrected Christ, is the evangelization of the world. St. Philip and St. James, along with the other Apostles, are the very embodiment of this evangelizing mission.

If Jesus is empowering us and revealing Himself to us in our Christian life, especially our prayer life, He is doing so to equip us to aid Him in the massive and worthy task of the evangelization and salvation of humanity.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Tell Jesus that you don’t want to keep Him all to yourself. Tell Him that you accept His request to focus all the energy of your love on union with God, and also on the evangelization and salvation of your fellow humans. Tell Him that you understand that your spiritual path ultimately leads necessarily to service, and ask Him to help you remain faithful to that call.

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April 29, 2021April 16, 2021

Sent

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

We see a beautiful and profoundly encouraging dynamic in today’s readings starting chronologically from the gospel, and moving through the events of the first reading, with reflection back in that reading and in the psalm on events leading up to the climax of Jesus’ arrival on earth.

In today’s gospel, Jesus proclaims that “I AM”; He uses for Himself the sacred title of Yahweh, of God. The majesty of this title, which attributes existence itself to God’s nature, is incomparable. And in this context, Jesus is the “Sent” one of the Father. God the Father has sent Jesus, and whoever received Jesus receives not just Jesus, but the Father as well.

But what Jesus says toward the end of the passage carries monumental consequences for our lives: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me.” So, this divine continuum of “sending” continues down from the Father, to the Son, and then to us.

Does this mean we are divine? Of course not. But it does mean that, when we are in the act of fulfilling the mission He has given us, those hearing us have the responsibility to receive us with all the solemnity with which one would receive Jesus Christ Himself.

We see this play out in our first reading, where Paul fulfills his mission from Jesus by proclaiming salvation in Christ in the synagogue. To build up to the announcement of the great “I AM,” Jesus, he references the colossal preparation for Jesus’ coming that God undertook with the people of Israel; and his build-up is echoed in today’s psalm:

The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.

Per Jesus’ words in today’s gospel, Paul’s hearers have the obligation to receive his words with the same openness and solemnity with which they would receive Jesus Himself.

We should take immense consolation from this reality. When we are genuinely in the midst of fulfilling in our lives the mission, the vocation that Jesus has given us, we are due a reception like that which Jesus would receive, because we come in His name. As such, we should no longer worry about our shortcomings, personality quirks, poor communication; so many human faults. What merits respect from our hearers is not our personal potpourri of human qualities and skillful performance, but rather the fact that Jesus has sent us. Period.

And when are we “sent” by Jesus? When are we fulfilling our vocation? Whenever we are seeking to do His will in the state of life to which He has called us.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to fill you with the confidence of an apostle–not confidence in your own abilities and virtues, but confidence in the nobility of your mission as one sent by Jesus.

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January 10, 2021January 1, 2021

Anointing

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

What we see at the Baptism of Jesus, momentous as it is, is the tip of the iceberg. We can well focus on the supernatural manifestations, whereby the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus visibly in the form of the dove, and God the Father proclaims Him His Son, in whom He is well pleased.

But there is a lot of depth to what is going on here. Per usual, the Old Testament sheds deep light on what is happening in the broader context of the economy of salvation, as we see in our first reading.

Of course, we know that Jesus was born to carry out the mission of our salvation–for no other purpose. Still, it is at the critical moment of His Baptism–which He with good reason insists upon, in the face of the Baptist’s protests–that Jesus as man formally accepts this mission, the mission of salvation described for us in the first reading. Or rather, as the second reading from Acts describes, He accepts His anointing for this mission. It is God the Father who does the anointing, and the oil of anointing is the Holy Spirit Himself. By accepting God’s will for Him to be baptized by John the Baptist, Jesus formally accepts His own divine anointing for His mission of salvation.

Why at this moment does the Father decide to manifest Himself, and state that He is pleased with His Son? As Jesus says elsewhere, the Father is always pleased with Him, because Jesus always does what pleases Him. But here, we may confidently infer that the Father is specifically saying that He is particularly pleased with what Jesus has just done, for the first time formally as God-Man, in taking on His difficult mission.

Following Christ, all the way into eternal life, is costly. He demands from us core transformation, for the sake of radical exaltation. But today we espy one consequence of our acceptance of His invitation to this radical gift of self to Him that may otherwise elude us. Since in His saving act, Jesus has made of us adopted children of God, we inherit with Him the ability to please the Father by accepting His mission for us, by accepting His will.

And so, we may confidently affirm that when we say “yes” to the life that God is asking from us, the Father, in all His solemnity, is saying of us as well that He is “well pleased.”

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Imagine one of the moments when it was challenging for you to say “yes” to God, and imagine the true joy that your “yes” brought to God the Father, the sovereign of the universe. Marvel that He would ordain things such that He could derive authentic joy from you, and ask Him never to let you be parted from the path of pleasing Him.

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November 18, 2020November 2, 2020

The Lion, the Calf, the Man, and the Eagle

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

The particular, personal role of each of His disciples in the plan of salvation is precious in the eyes of the Lord. In today’s first reading, we have the four living creatures presented: Man, ox, lion, eagle. St. Irenaeus is the one credited with first identifying in these images the Four Evangelists, the writers of the gospels. Each image beautifully brings out something special about the evangelist in question.

St. Matthew is associated with the man (sometimes depicted as a winged man, like an angel). His gospel brings out the human lineage of Christ, thereby emphasizing the fact that Jesus was truly man, with all that this implies.

St. Mark is associated with the lion. He emphasizes the prophetic announcement of John the Baptist, the “voice crying out in the desert.” Mark brings out the prophetic nature of Jesus’ mission, like that of a lion roaring.

St. Luke is associated with the bull or ox, with a nod to the calf from today’s reading. He begins his gospel with the sacrificial duties of Zechariah in the temple, and with Mary’s sacrificial obedience at the Annunciation and the Holy Family’s sacrificial offering in the Temple at the Presentation, which are foreshadowings of Jesus’ priestly sacrifice on the cross. The ox/bull/calf represents Luke’s emphasis on the sacrificial nature of the mission of Christ and, by extension, every Christian.

Finally, St. John is associated with the eagle. In his gospel, John ascends into the loftiest contemplation of the divine mysteries associated with Jesus, for example, in his contemplation at the beginning of his gospel of the eternal Word becoming flesh. The eagle represents the spiritual heights to which John soars.

The Holy Spirit so cherished each of these individual nuances and roles that He immortalized them in Scripture–not only in today’s reading from Revelation, but also in Old Testament prophecy (cf. Ez. 1:5-14).

Often, we rightly consider today’s Gospel passage, the parable of the talents, in the light of guarding against falling short of what God expects of us in the cultivation of our resources for fruit in evangelization and salvation. But we also see here a reflection of the cherished personal character of each individual’s mission, character, and trajectory in the Christian life, displayed in the distinct personal gift of “talents” that God makes to each servant.

What does Jesus cherish about your particular role in His plan of salvation? What gifts has He given you for the fulfillment of His plan, and how would He like them to be employed?

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Consider your particular vocation, and also the themes that come up for you again and again in your contemplative prayer. Ask Jesus how these play into what He particularly cherishes about the divine work He is performing in you, and your role in helping bring others to Him. Ask Him to help you grow in wisdom concerning the implementation of your gifts in His service.

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October 28, 2020October 7, 2020

Essential Stones

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

Today, the feast of Sts. Simon and Jude, is all about the apostles.

Working backward from the Gospel passage, the message is something like this: 1) (Gospel) Jesus personally called each of the twelve apostles; 2) (Psalm) As a result of the apostles fulfilling their mission, the message of the Gospel went out to all the earth; and 3) (First reading) As such, the apostles form the foundation of the “building” which is the Church; Jesus Himself is the capstone that holds everything together, and each of us is an essential “stone” in the building.

When they were called, the apostles–later the foundation of the Church itself, bringing Christ’s message to the ends of the earth–were ordinary people, just like us. Perhaps even more “ordinary”! Even once they had received their call and were walking with Jesus, they didn’t feel particularly extraordinary. in the end, it was the Holy Spirit Himself who ensured that their extraordinary mission was fulfilled.

So why are we so often trying to find a way to carry out an extraordinary mission ourselves? Why do we look outside our own personal vocation for what is extraordinary? All we need to do to ensure that the mission God has entrusted to us, which is critical since we are essential stones in the “building” of the Church, is to do what the apostles did: Stay connected to Jesus. It is He who will send us the Holy Spirit. And it is the Holy Spirit who will ensure that our mission, which is far above our own abilities, is fulfilled.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Talk to Jesus about your personal mission within His Church. “Read it back to Him” in your own words, and ask Him to enlighten you if your read of it needs some correction or education. Then, entrust that mission to Him. Ask Him to send His Holy Spirit in power to ensure that you drink the chalice entrusted to you to the last drop, and that your mission for the salvation of your fellow humans is fulfilled.

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October 1, 2020September 11, 2020

Evangelizing from Weakness

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

At first glance, today’s readings go together somewhat awkwardly. We have Job, who has just lost everything, expressing a moving, unconditional trust not only that he will receive good from the hand of God, but that he will receive the ultimate good–that He will see God Himself. The psalm echoes Job’s monumental hope: “I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.”

Then, in the Gospel passage, we see Jesus sending out the seventy-two disciples, two by two, on an exciting mission, where they will exercise His own evangelizing and healing power.

So, let’s put these two passages together. Imagine Jesus entering Job’s life, when he is bereft of everything, and even while Job is struggling and expressing his marvelous virtue of trust, Jesus asks him to launch forth on a mission.

Yet, when we think about it, this is, in fact, the situation of the apostle. While we don’t know much about the seventy-two, we do know that the twelve apostles had left their nets, left everything behind to follow God’s will in their lives. Like Job, they were bereft of everything except God, except Jesus. As for the seventy-two, they are asked to set forth on their mission without money or baggage–without even the bare necessities, and Jesus says He is sending them “as sheep among wolves.”

In our lives, Jesus does not ask us to spread the word about Him from a position of wealth, security, comfort, strength, or even incontrovertible human logic. He asks us to spread the word about Him from a position of neediness, vulnerability, and weakness.

Many hesitate to spread the word about Jesus to others, not because they doubt Jesus, but because they believe that they themselves do not have what it takes. Extreme trust like that of Job is in fact necessary to overcome this hesitancy, trusting not in our own qualities of persuasion, but rather in the direct power Jesus with His grace will exert in the human heart as it hears His message.

Today is the memorial of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. If anyone had an excuse not to evangelize it was she–she was cooped up in a cloister and had access to no one! And yet, because of her deep love for Jesus and desire for others to know Him, and above all her trust in His power, she successfully evangelized through her prayer, to such a degree that Pius XI declared her Patroness of the Missions in 1927.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus in what way He wants you to spread Him to other hearts. If the question is difficult for you, tell Him that you trust not in your own power for persuasion, courage, or good judgement, but rather you trust that He will let you know when and how He wants you to act.

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August 24, 2020August 3, 2020

Pillar of the Church

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

If you want to name a son after today’s saint, one of the original twelve apostles, you can name him Nathaniel…or Bartholomew. Same guy. Hence, on the feast of St. Bartholomew, the Gospel reading is about Nathaniel.

The Gospels never say “Jesus laughed,” but if we listen closely enough, we can hear Him chuckling in today’s Gospel reading. “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?” Nathaniel lent credence to Jesus as Son of God, and anointed Him King of Israel, evidently just because He said Nathaniel was not two-faced, and that He knew this upon seeing him under the fig tree.

Despite Jesus’ wry question, we can be sure that Nathaniel didn’t jump on Jesus’ bandwagon just because he was spotted under a tree, or because he received a compliment, even one he considered to be precisely on target. As seemed to be the case with the other apostles who jumped up and spontaneously followed Jesus, leaving everything they had behind, Nathaniel had an experience of Christ upon meeting Him. Without being able to put his finger on why, he saw that there was something drastically different with this Teacher.

Our experience of faith is no different. We sometimes conceive of “faith” as some sort of logical assent, a nod of our heads to the existence of God and to Jesus as His Son and the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity because it makes sense. As if we have deduced the existence of God from the order in the universe, analyzed the teachings and life of Christ and confirmed those as being logically consistent with the necessary love of a God who would create such a universe. Then, sitting back, half-closing our eyes, and joining our two hands at the tips of the fingers in a sign of our profound wisdom, we have deigned to nod our head exactly once.

If we are honest, while our faith may not derive from “sight” literally understood as the external sense, it does come from the unmistakable internal experience we have of Jesus Christ, the person, in our hearts and in our souls. We have “met” Him there. And our intuition, that difficult-to-pin-down but oh-so-real-and-necessary component of the faculty of our intelligence–a component which today, some call “emotional intelligence”–has vigorously assented that this Jesus Christ is in fact our Lord and Savior.

It is exciting to think that we have had this very real, unmistakable experience, which sustains us even when, during periods short or extended, God allows for trials in our spiritual lives wherein that experience seems to be lacking.

As we reflect on Nathaniel’s moment of clarity in faith, we detect a sort of delicious irony in today’s readings. Philip describes Jesus as the one about whom the prophets have written. Nathaniel, he who was hanging out under just another fig tree in dusty Galilee, couldn’t have imagined how he himself would be wrapped into this narrative–that, in fact, the Old Testament directly foreshadowed his own life and mission as well. As the first reading shows, the great Twelve Tribes of Israel–of which Nathaniel would be very much aware–were themselves but a foreshadowing of the twelve pillars of the Church, the Twelve Apostles of Jesus Christ, of which Nathaniel would become one.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Reflect on your most powerful experiences of Jesus Christ, and thank Him that He calls us to faith not through intellectual deduction, but through a direct experience of Himself. Consider that, as with Nathaniel, a relationship with Jesus brings with it a cosmically foreseen and foreshadowed mission of great import. Ask Him to help you fulfill that mission with your ironically small “yes” of every day.

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