A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew 10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles: "Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes."
REFLECTION: ".... do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say."
Jesus commissioned His disciples to go out and make disciples of all nations. It would be hard but Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would lead them in their words, prayers and would even speak for them.
When we are faced with doing something new or different or too big, doubts creep up...can I do it? Did I misunderstand what God was telling me? Am I going to mess up and do more harm? Sometimes we can be faced with a daunting situation.
But God has a plan for those that fear Him and wish to do His will. Abraham, Moses, Jacob and St Joseph and Mary took that leap of faith and went and did what God asked of them.
In PAPA we are asked the same... to go out and make disciples of all kindred spirits for the apostolate of praying for priests. We may be worried about what and how to say things, or of being rejected, or of leaving the familiar and going out to areas we are not accustomed to be.
We are asked to be Present for our work for the Lord, to be Active in all our endeavors never doing the bare minimum but going out and letting the Holy Spirit take hold of our lives. We are to be Conscious of the needs of the priests and of our PAPA family. (PAC)
Today, be emboldened to spread our PAPA apostolate and the prayer for Priests. Ask many to join us in our efforts to carry out the vision and mission and philosophy to Pray, Serve and Bless. (PBS)
