Thought for the Day – 14 May – Monday of the Seventh Week of Eastertide – Feast of St Matthias, Apostle – Today’s Readings: Acts of the Apostles 1:15-17.20-26, Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 15:9-17
Pope Benedict XVI, (Holy Father from 2005 to 2013)
Homily of the 14 May 2010 (Apostolic journey to Portugal – trans. © Libreria Editrice Vaticana)
Be witnesses!
“One of these men, then […] must become a witness with us to his resurrection” (Acts 1:20-22).
These were the words of Peter… My brothers and sisters, you need to become witnesses… to the resurrection of Jesus. In effect, if you do not become His witnesses in your daily lives, who will do so in your place? Christians are, in the Church and with the Church, missionaries of Christ sent into the world. This is the indispensable mission of every ecclesial community, to receive from God the Father and to offer to the world the Risen Christ, so that every situation of weakness and of death may be transformed, through the Holy Spirit, into an opportunity for growth and life.
We impose nothing, yet we propose ceaselessly, as Peter recommends in one of his Letters: “In your hearts, reverence Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you” (1 Pet 3:15). And everyone, in the end, asks this of us, even those who seem not to. From personal and communal experience, we know well that it is Jesus whom everyone awaits. In fact, the most profound expectations of the world and the great certainties of the Gospel meet in the ineluctable mission which is ours, for “without God man neither knows which way to go, nor even understands who he is.” In the face of the enormous problems surrounding the development of peoples, which almost make us yield to discouragement, we find solace in the sayings of our Lord Jesus Christ, who teaches us: ‘Apart from me you can do nothing’ (Jn 15:5) and who encourages us: ‘I am with you always, to the close of the age’ (Mt 28:20)” (cf.Caritas in Veritate, 78)…
Yes! We are called to serve the humanity of our own time, trusting in Jesus alone, letting ourselves be enlightened by His word: “You did not choose me but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide” (Jn 15:16). How much time we have lost, how much work has been set back, on account of our lack of attention to this point! Everything is to be defined starting with Christ, as far as the origins and effectiveness of mission is concerned, we receive mission always from Christ, who has made known to us what He has heard from His Father and we are appointed to mission, through the Spirit, in the Church. Like the Church herself, which is the work of Christ and His Spirit, it is a question of renewing the face of the earth, starting from God, God always and alone!
So we say, St Matthias, today we call on you for your intercession!
AnaStpaul 