Monday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
Our Parish, Immaculate Conception, focuses a great deal on being disciples of Jesus- we are called to “think like Jesus, talk like Jesus, and act like Jesus.” When I read today’s reading, I was struck by the line “we have received the grace of apostleship.” So does that mean that WE are called to be apostles as well? One of the definitions of the word “apostle” is “one sent on a mission.” As disciples of Jesus we are called to become like Him in all ways, but we are also given the mission of building the Kingdom of God here on earth. Through the grace of the Spirit each one of us is called into relationship with Him, so we can bring others (and in fact all of creation) into the Kingdom as well.
I have heard people suggest that we should be able to share what and why we believe in our faith stories in a short elevator ride. St. Paul shares a synopsis of how Jesus fulfills what was promised by the prophets. He describes how Jesus lives out His Sonship both in human and divine ways through His death and resurrection, and St. Paul shares all of this in a short few sentences! He then declares that his mission is to share the Gospel and the truths about Jesus, and how all people are called to “belong to Him.”
St. Paul takes this notion of mission to an extreme. Several years ago, I was able to travel to Turkey to “walk the footsteps of St. Paul.” It was incredible to see how far reaching St. Paul’s travels took him, and this did not even include his travels to Greece and Rome.
So if we are given the grace of apostleship, how are we to live this out during this time and place? I believe that before we can be sent forth on a mission, we must have a very good understanding of what we believe. If you are not convicted about something, why would anyone want to join you? We must begin with our call as disciples, for how are we going to share Christ, if we do not know Who He is? To know more about Christ we must dedicate time to personal prayer, scripture and sacrament, since these are the best ways to allow Christ to permeate our thoughts, words and actions. Once we allow Christ into our lives, then we can take Him out into the world.
When I think about being an apostle in today’s world, it seems daunting. Going up to someone and just telling them what we believe and convincing them that they should believe the same thing is not met with much success. Being an apostle I believe starts with relationships and then being Christ-like with others in our daily interactions. It is by the way we live- how we speak, think and talk like Jesus- that we are most likely going to touch someone’s life and bring the Good News to them.
Where are we called to be apostles? Some of us may be called to travel to distant lands, but the majority of us need to take our mission to our homes, communities and workplace. The building of the kingdom of heaven begins right where we are and right in the here and now.
Our parish is beginning a new year celebrating the theme living the kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven.” Our discipleship does not just stop with following Jesus, but we are sent on a mission to help bring “heaven” to earth. As disciples, it is not about just us receiving the grace of salvation, but we are called to take that grace and share it with others. Bringing love, mercy, forgiveness and peace to daily situations brings us and our world one step closer to “earth as it is in heaven.” We do this with the grace of the Spirit, and fortunately we do it together as a community of disciples, which makes our task more enjoyable and more effective.
We are called to be disciples and then sent forth as apostles to build the kingdom. The changes may be small- almost imperceptible- but if we take daily steps to allow Christ to be a part of all that we say and do, the world will change. St. Paul says we all called to be “holy” and when we live with Christ as our center not only will we live holy lives, but the world will become one step closer to being one with God- and we accomplish this mission with the grace of our apostleship.
Loving Father, You send us Jesus to show us how we are called to live. With the grace of Your Spirit, help us to be like Your Son in all that we do, so all of creation may become one with You. May our lives of love give you glory, we pray this through Christ our LORD. Amen.
- Marylynn Herchline