Jesus said to the crowds: "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my Flesh for the life of the world."
REFLECTION
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him...."
"They shall all be taught by God. "
The angel of the Lord spoke to Philip and told him to go--"Get up and head south". With the prompting of the Holy Spirit, Philip evangelized to the eunuch through Sacred Spripture. "They shall be taught by God" reminds me of the life and duty of a priest.
The priest, chosen by God from among men, is appointed to act on behalf of men in relation to God. He can deal gently with the ignorant and wayward. Being weak himself, he offers sacrifice for his own sins as well as for others.
As a consecrated man, he is a priest forever. He is not a priest only by the acts he performs when using his faculties and power conferred on him, but by the Sacrament of Holy Orders, he is a priest continuosly, a priest always at every moment.
Fully consecrated to God and surrendering all to Him, he gives himself in everything--his intelligence, talents, activities, will and future. He is another Christ.
Philip was sent to be another Christ. It is written in Isaiah 54:13, "They shall all be taught by God." Once his duty was accomplished, he was sent to Azotus, proclaiming the good news.
The priests' duties are to preach, baptize, teach, suffer and die, and within these duties God gives them the spirit, strength, joy and the final crown of the Resurrection.
Please join us in praying for priests to go where He sends them, speak as He teaches them and love as He commands.
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