The Shepherd's Call
First Reading ~ Isaiah 30: 19-21, 23-26
Psalm ~ Psalm 147
Gospel ~ Matthew 9:35 - 10:1, 5a, 6-8
This Advent I'm learning - slowly and imperfectly - how to make room for a Babe in my heart and my life. This daily series at Ardent Devotion documents my journey with God's word throughout Advent, and the little ways in which He is revealing His Truth to me day by day. I invite you to join with me in committing to a Christ-filled Advent, so that we can arrive at the manger-side with wondrous hearts.
The 1st Saturday of Advent
Happy Feast Day of St Nicholas!! (And St Peter Pascual and Polychronius... but they don't come down chimneys laden with gifts, so we don't talk about them.)
Let's face it, though, St Nicholas was a bit of a boss. Generosity, passion and a knack for punching heretics all rolled into one? Now that's my kind of Saint (plus, you know, who doesn't love presents?). But you know who else is my kind of a Saint? You.
No, you didn't mishear me. I didn't leave the -gene off of St Eugene de Mazenod's name. I'm talking about St. YOU, sitting behind your computer (or phone) screen reading this blog post. You are actually my all-time favourite Saint. Well, maybe you're not a Saint yet, but, boy, are you called to be! And by God's grace, I truly believe you will be.
The thing is, sanctity is for everyone. Pope Francis stresses this over and over:
“We need saints that drink Coca-Cola, that eat hot dogs, that surf the internet and that listen to their iPods. We need saints that love the Eucharist, that are not afraid or embarrassed to eat a pizza or drink a beer with their friends. We need saints who love the movies, dance, sports, theatre. We need saints that are open, sociable, normal, happy companions. We need saints who are in this world and who know how to enjoy the best in this world without being callous or mundane. We need saints”
In today's Gospel, we witness the commissioning of the Twelve to go out to the lost sheep and bring light into their darkness. Jesus saw the need of the people for shepherds and ministers, and so He called those who walked in His ways to be the labourers in His harvest. But the disciples - they were just ordinary guys. They were the first-century Palestinian equivalent of coke-drinking, internet-surfing teenagers. They made mistakes (bucketloads of them!), were often oblivious to Jesus' messages and not one of them thought themselves worthy to be Christ's disciples - let alone Saints in the Kingdom of God!
But now, two millenia on, each one of those ordinary guys (excepting Judas. But again, we don't talk about him) is commemorated in the Church as a Saint in heaven. When we look through the lives of the Saints, many of them had intense flaws. Many of them made massive mistakes. And a lot of them (like good old St Nick) were a bit overzealous. Many of them did extraordinary things, but at the core they were just ordinary people - ordinary people who responded to the Shepherd's Call.
Becoming a Saint really just demands one thing of us: that we walk in the ways of Jesus, in order to spread His light to this world in need. A necessary factor in being Christ's disciple is the prompting towards missionary action. We evangelize - we go out and proclaim the kingdom of heaven - in order to carry on the ministry of Jesus when He no longer can:
Christ has no body but yours
No hands, no feet on Earth but yours
Yours are the eyes with which He looks compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which He walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which He blesses all the world
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet, yours are the eyes, you are His body
Christ has no body on Earth now but YOURS!
St Teresa of Avila
Whether or not you realise it, Jesus needs you. The Church needs YOU. Greater things are still to be done, and the kingdom of God has new battles to fight daily. The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. We can sit and agonize that Catholicism in the West is dying (or at least thoroughly dormant), but we must recognize that the call to faith is also a call to action.
It's impossible to be the Lord's disciple without also embracing His missionary spirit. Jesus asks us to "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). He is a God who, moved by compassion, takes action to rectify the problems He sees in this world. And He asks us to do the same, and so join Him in building up the kingdom of Saints.
Jesus needs you to embrace the challenge of being a missionary disciple - and becoming a Saint - for His kingdom. The Shepherd's Call takes many forms - maybe you're meant to evangelize as a youth minister, as a teacher, as a parent, as a doctor, as a student, as a friend, or as whatever the Lord calls you to. But regardless of what your specific vocation is in this world, He calls you to an active, sacrificial love. A love that is moved to compassion at the sight of the helpless and harassed of this world, and prompted to action by the Lord of the harvest.
He calls you to be a Saint. Don't assume that it's not for you. Don't think yourself unworthy of His call. Remember that He called smelly fishermen. Remember that He called people as hot-tempered as St Nicholas. Remember that He is calling me, and remember that He is calling you, to go out and be labourers in His harvest, shepherds to His people and Saints for His kingdom.
I pray you have the courage to respond to that call.
~~~
Hail and blessed be the hour and the moment at which the Son of God was born of a most pure Virgin, at a stable, at midnight in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. At that hour vouchsafe, I beseech thee, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through our Saviour Jesus Christ and His most blessed Mother.
AMDG
Comments
Post a Comment