Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus. Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
REFLECTION
Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
Imagine being chosen by God! To be given a special job. The apostles were to go out and spread the good news of the kingdom.
Unfortunately, Judas would turn his back to Jesus and even worse, betray Him.
The eleven apostles, with divine authority, go on to preach, write, and go after the lost sheep. The Church would be and is the face of the Lord.
Now imagine God calling us to help and welcome others to His Church. Do we cringe and say "No" because we cannot write, preach or worse yet, stand in front of a crowd and stumble with "you know", "uh" and maybe worse yet ever, make no sense? We simply might not have that gift! Explore other scenarios...we all have gifts.
Instead of blending in with the crowd and keeping our faith private, let us put our complete trust in God and discover what great works He has in store for us. After all -we can smile, chit chat with someone, ask them to help out with the next Church undertaking, start a prayer group, or simply support the efforts of others. Volunteer to be an usher and greeter, do prison ministry, feed the homeless, Meals on wheels, or see what other volunteer work there might be in your church, diocese or community.
In PAPA we pray, give the Priest prayer card and ask a kindred spirit to pray for priests and become members of PAPA. We spend time with people: telling them about our purpose of praying for priests, pledging and consecrating them to be PAPA members. Our philosophy is to pray, serve and bless everything and everyone whether they are good or ill.
God is inviting us now to share our faith and be the face of God, welcoming people into His family by simply showing love. Every act of love helps others see Jesus. May we not hide the goodness God has given us but let us "Go and tell everyone that the Kingdom of God is at hand".
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