“He would be everywhere, whenever his friends gathered to pray. He would continue to act through them just as he promised: forgiving sins, sharing mercy, bringing young and old into the embrace of eternal life through Baptism, and feeding their very souls with himself, the Bread of Life. He would remain on earth through his Church.” (Great Adventure Kids Catholic Bible Chronicles, by Amy Welborn, p 265)
There is one command at the end of the Gospel of Matthew; to go and make disciples. A disciple doesn’t just believe, but acts. He imitates his leader. As we recognize in James 2:26 that faith without works is dead, we are called to live our faith out in our daily life. By doing so, we inspire others to follow similarly.
Catholic Social Teaching explains, “No one can be a Christian merely for his own benefit. Coming to Jesus, seeking his friendship, and following him also means publicly professing faith in him, allowing him to speak to us and commission us. All of us must be ‘messengers’ and ‘witnesses’ of the Gospel.” (DOCAT 235)
So that we might proclaim the Kingdom of God in word and deed, God gives us the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Having wonder and awe of how good God is, we will seek to please Him by sharing this same goodness. We show what we believe by loving one another.
In the end, God will measure our lives by how much we love. How much we love Him will show by spilling over to how much we love those that he has placed in our path. Christ lives in us through our words, healing, sharing, acts of kindness and mercy. Unconditionally serving one another is essential to true love.
Daily Reading
Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr
Readings for the Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr Reading 1 Tb 1:3; 2:1a-8 I, Tobit, have walked all the days of my lifeon the paths of truth and…
Saint of the Day
Saint Norbert
Saint Norbert founded the order with the most difficult name to pronounce and spell—Praemonstratensians. Perhaps that’s why they go by the name of Norbertines. But this order was anything but hard to appreciate when it comes to the work they did. They were very effective in converting heretics and reconciling enemies.