As a people of faith, I think that we sometimes don’t completely grasp the awesome nature of our heritage. Yes, we know that we are Catholic, and that we are part of the Church that was founded by Jesus and His disciples at the very beginning, but our heritage actually goes back quite a bit further. We descend spiritually from the same people who heard God’s voice from the pillar of fire, who witnessed His saving power at the Red Sea when being pursued by the Egyptians, and who occupy a place with our Lord as a people peculiarly His own.
We are called to be His people in all ways. In our belief and faith in Him, in our following of His commands, and in the commissioned work that He has appointed each of us for. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” This was not just His call to the disciples, but to all of us who follow Him. We are part of a long line of those called to preach His word. To evangelize and to save all of humanity, because they are all His children too, even if they have never heard of Him. What an awesome commission we share, and what an awesome responsibility this is. Every one of us is called to this. Some by serving as his ordained ministers, some as those who teach, some as those who serve in the different ministries within His Church, and some by whom His message is passed on to others by the example they give with the way they live their lives. These are all important and they all serve to bring others closer to God.
We obey our Lord’s commands as He is our Father, and we His sons and daughters. When we pray the Our Father, that is the first proclamation uttered in that prayer, but I think we sometimes don’t fully grasp the intimacy that we are truly a part of. We are also called to cry out to Him as Abba, which is translated “Daddy” – this is a very intimate term, but as His sons and daughters it is very appropriate. It is then equally appropriate that as His sons and daughters our first priority should always be to do our Lord’s bidding and to take on the commission, we have been given with a focus that is an everyday call to place His will ahead of our own. To make sure that we are following His command each in our own way. When we perform an examination of conscience, whether it be a practice we do at the end of each day as we pray, or as part of our going to confession, we should not only think about the areas where we have fallen short, we should be asking ourselves how successful we have been in carrying out God’s commission to us. This is appropriate to a people given such a unique gift. To be able to look forward to an entrance into His kingdom and to spend eternity in a perfect intimacy with Him. In our second reading it tells us that we are co-heirs with Christ if only we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. This suffering is sometimes a part of the example we are called to give and allow others to benefit from. It can be from our time selflessly given, even when we are already taxed, it can be from the persecution that comes from the conflict that can arise when giving witness to Him, or it can be from our daily placing His command ahead of our own needs and following Him no matter where the path takes us. Yes, this sounds like a great responsibility, but what we receive back is immeasurably greater in value and it will truly wash away all our tears and replace them with joy that will last for all eternity. There is no prospect more precious than that.
The Deacons Bench 