WORD ALIVE
FR. BEL SAN LUIS, SVD
The gospel of this 5th Sunday relates about Jesus calling his first apostles — a band of simple fishermen. The Lord must have made a deep impression on them that "they left everything" — their work, their boats, their families — and followed him (Lk 5:11). This band formed the core group on which Christ founded his Church
Unfortunately, many have the idea that the call of Christ is addressed only to the apostles and their successors — priests, bishops and popes.
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That's not true. Every Christian is commissioned to the ministry of healing, preaching and teaching by virtue of his or her baptism.
The Decree on the Laity of Vatican II states: "Incorporated into Christ's Mystical Body through baptism and strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit through confirmation, the LAITY are assigned to the apostolate by the Lord Himself" (3).
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How can you be an apostle of Christ or “fisher of men”? Aside from attending Holy mass and receiving the sacraments, you could participate in church works in your parish. Today there are numerous lay Catholics who sacrifice time, talent and treasure for the church, rendering services as lay ministers, lectors, collectors, choir members, catechists, social workers.
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Then there are those involved in church organizations like the Legion of Mary, Knights of Columbus, Catholic Women’s League as well as the renewal movements like the Marriage Encounter, Couples for Christ, El Shaddai, Loved Flock, Lord’s Flock and many others.
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Testimony of Christian living
The most basic and effective form of being a “fisher of people” is the testimony of Christian living or witnessing to the gospel values like charity, justice, forgiveness, honesty, peace in daily life.
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Examples of Christian witnessing especially at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis are the medical frontliners sacrificing double-time for the sick, those engaged in bayanihan projects like people offering their hotels and apartments as accommodations for those stranded, putting up community pantries to share food resources, and prayer warriors.
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The British TV journalist Malcolm Muggeridge was a celebrity who did not care much about God and religion. He did something he swore he would never do — become a Catholic.
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What led to his conversion? He had an assignment to write about the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta. Travelling to India, Muggeridge thought the trip was just the usual work but the amazing thing was in the course of his talks and days of observation of the kindly nun, he experienced a change of heart.
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Muggeridge said: “Words cannot express how much I owe her. She showed me Christianity in action.”
Would non-Catholics and lukewarm Christians be so edified by your way of life as to want to become active Catholics?
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In his encyclical “Redemptoris Missio,” Pope St. John Paul II said: “People today put more trust in witnesses than in teachers…The witness of a Christian life is the first and irreplaceable form of evangelization.”
In preaching the Good News, we must, first of all, BE Good News to people.
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Support Seminarians. Seminarians are very important in the Church. We cannot have priests, missionaries and bishops if there are no seminarians simply because they all start as seminarians. So, let’s support them.
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Chip in an amount or sponsor a seminarian's schooling for one year. For inquiry, e-mail me at: [email protected].
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The lighter side. Three classmates in high school met in a class reunion. "In our town," said the first, "people call me 'Monsignor' because I am a lay minister."
The second bragged: "Well, I’m a charismatic elder. I give spiritual talks so everybody calls me 'Cardinal'."
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Unimpressed, the third said: "I’m higher than you two. I'm a sales representative going from house to house but I serve as collector at Mass. Many call me ‘God.’”
The friends were flabbergasted and said: “What, God? How come”? “You see, when I knock at the doors of my customers and they see me,” the sales rep said, “they exclaim, ‘My God, my God, you again!’”