- Called Despite Our Fears - BY HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS - Open Mind, Faithful Heart - 

                                               -  Reflection on Following Jesus  - Page  2 - 

We may continue this meditation by contemplating the different ways in which Jesus describes "the happiness of belonging to this kingdom - a paradoxical happiness that is made up of things that the world rejects (Matthew 5:3-12)" We may further consider "the demands of the kingdom and its Magna Carta (Matthew 5-7), the heralds of the kingdom (Matthew 10), its mysteries (Matthew 13), its children (Matthew 18), the vigilance and fidelity demanded of whoever awaits its definitive coming (Matthew 24-25)" (Evangelii Nuntiandi,8). The Lord establishes us in his kingdom. His Spirit makes us experience the delight of belonging to the kingdom, which constitutes the mystery of our identity.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heavens.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who are hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when people revile and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:3-12)

JESUS ESTABLISHES A COMMUNITY that is both evangelized and evangelizing: "Those who sincerely accept the Good News through the power of this acceptance of shared faith gather together in Jesus' name in order to seek together the kingdom, build it up, and live it. They make up a community that is in turn evangelizing. The command to the Twelve to go out and proclaim the Good News is also valid for all Christians, though in a different way. It is precisely for this reason that Peter calls Christians 'a people set apart to sing the praises of God' (1Peter 2:9) (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 13), "The task of evangelizing all people constitutes the essential mission of the Church. It is a task and mission which the vast and profound changes of present-day society make all the more urgent. Evangelizing is in fact the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelize, that is to say, in order to preach and teach, to be the channel of the gift of grace, to reconcile sinners with God, and to perpetuate Christ's sacrifice in the Mass, which is the memorial of his death and glorious resurrection" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 14).

By virtue of our vocation and our identity as an evangelizing community, we allow ourselves to be summoned "to proclaim with authority the Word of God, to assemble the scattered People of God, to feed this People with the signs of the action of Christ which are the sacraments, to set this People on the road to salvation, to maintain it in that unity of which we are, at different levels, active and living instruments, and unceasingly to keep this community gathered around Christ faithful to its deepest vocation" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 68). 

Our mission, the - the mission that frightens us and makes us offer excuses like the ones we hear from the lips of the reluctant prophets in the scriptures - is to evangelize, to shepherd the faithful people of God. And that mission establishes us in our vocation. In calling us to that mission, Jesus gives us solidity in the depths of our hearts: he establishes us a pastors and makes that our identity. In our visits to the sick, in our administration of the sacraments, in our teaching of the catechism, and all the rest of our priestly activity, we are collaborating with Christ in establishing Christian hearts. At the same time and by that same means, that is, by the work we do, the Lord is establishing and rooting our hearts in his own.

THIS COMMUNITY that Jesus establishes "places human beings objectively in relation with the plan of God, with his living presence and with his action; the Church thus causes an encounter with the mystery of divine paternity that bends down toward humanity. In other words, our religion effectively establishes with God an authentic and living relationship" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 53). A vital element for our task of establishing Christian hearts is the anointing that comes from direct experience of the faithfulness of the Lord of history. If our theology is to establish by the Lord, then it must be devout, but not with the kind of devotion that results from superficial attitudes born of prior reflection or study. No, the devotion to which I refer is a basic element for results from superficial attitudes born of prior reflection of study. No, the devotion to which I refer is a basic element for understanding our theology and what we teach. It is life. When we feel the presence of God in our daily life, we cannot help but say, "God is here," and when we feel God present, the first thing we must do is get down on our knees. Then the human intellect tries to understand and explain how God is present - that is the meaning of fides quaerens intellectum, faith seeking understanding. And consider the stories we've heard of those saints who studied theology on their knees. We may be helped also by the Pope's reasoning when he states that true evangelization includes "the preaching of the mystery of evil and of the active search of good. It likewise includes the preaching - and this is always urgent - of search for God himself through prayer which is principally that of adoration and thanksgiving, but also through communion with the visible sign of the encounter with God which is the Church of Jesus Christ; and this communion is in turn expressed by the application of those other signs of Christ living and acting in the Church which are the sacraments." In sum, we must not forget either the nature of what we're called to establish or the foundation on which we let ourselves be established by the Lord: "For in its totality, evangelization - over  and above the preaching of a message - consists in the implantation of the Church, which does not exist without the driving force which is the sacramental life culminating in the Eucharist" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 28).

IN SPEAKING OF what are called base communities, Paul VI outlines the criteria that Jesus wants for establishing his Church. These criteria can provide us light for our reflection today and help us examine our conscience. The basic foundational attitude involves being formed in the Church. What Jesus wants men and women: 1) "who seek their nourishment in the Word of God and do not allow themselves to be ensnared by political polarization or fashionable ideologies, which are ready to exploit their immense human potential" 2) "who avoid the ever present temptation of systematic protest and a hypercritical attitude, under the pretext of authenticity and a spirit of collaboration" 3) "who remain firmly attached to the local Church in which they are inserted and to the universal Church, avoiding the very real danger of becoming isolated within themselves, then of believing themselves to be the only authentic Church of Christ, and hence of condemning the other ecclesial communities (and persons)" 4) "whom maintain a sincere communion with the pastors whom the Lord gives to his Church, and with the magisterium which the Spirit of Christ has entrusted to these pastors" 5) "who never look on themselves as the sole beneficiaries or sole agents of evangelization - or even the only depositaries of the Gospel - but, being aware that the Church is much more vast and diversified, accept the fact that this Church becomes incarnate in other ways than through themselves" 6) "who constantly grow in missionary consciousness, fervor, commitment and zeal" 7) "who show themselves to be universal in all things and never sectarian" (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 58).

THE LORD WHO ESTABLISHES us evokes in us the image of Deus semper maior, God always greater. Let us meditate and pray today on letting ourselves be established by the Lord. Let us meditate also, as the pastors we're going to be, on how God helps us in this mission we have been given of establishing Christian hearts. Let us recover the memory of the many zealous priests we've known who have seen the face of Christ. This memory will "strengthen our hearts and keep us from being "carried away by all kinds of strange teachings" (Hebrews 13:9). Those doctrines establish nothing; rather they undermine the reflections of Dante: "Christ did not say, 'Go and preach nonsense to the world,' to his first gathering, but gave them the true foundation. That, and only that, was on their lip so that they made the Gospel lance and shield in their fight to enkindle the faith." Instead of being a shield and a lance, these seductive and disruptive doctrines starve the hearts of God's holy and faithful people, for "the sheep, knowing nothing, return from the pasture fed on air." 

For Prayer and Reflection - Let us strengthen our spirits by recalling the many pastors who have preceded us. To this end, it will help us to read again that exhortation from the letter to the Hebrews: "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood" (Hebrews 12:1-4). 

-     WELCOME TO SACRED SCRIPTURE / WORD OF GOD / HOLY BIBLE READER'S COMMUNITY     - 

Wishing you, 'Happy Reading', and may God, the Father, the Son of the living God, Jesus Christ, fills your heart, mind, thoughts, and grants you: The Holy Spirit, that is, Wisdom, Knowledge, Understanding, Counsel, Piety, Fortitude, Fear of the Lord, and also His fruits of the Holy Spirit, that is, Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Trustfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. Amen! God blessing be upon you!

Why do you call Me, "Lord, Lord" and not do what I say?' "Everyone who comes to Me and listens to My words and acts on them - I will show you what he/she is like. He/She is like a man/woman who when he/she built his/her house dug, deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built. But the one who listens and does nothing is like the man/woman who built his/her house on soil, with no foundations: as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!" - Luke 6:46-49 - 

If we live by the truth and in love, we shall grow in all ways into Christ Jesus, who is the head by whom the whole body is fitted and joined together, every joint adding its own strength, for each separate part to work according to it function. So the body grows until it has built itself up, in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 - 

I still have many things to say to you but they would be too much for you now. But when the spirit of truth comes, he will lead you to the complete truth, since he will not be speaking as from himself, but will say only what he has learnt; and he will tell you of the things to come. He/She will glorify me, since all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine. Everything the Father has is mine; that is why I said: all he/she tells you will be taken from what is mine." - John 16:12-15 -