MAY THE GOOD NEWS GO OUT TO ALL
Holiness and its consequent apostolate are entirely the
gift of God, not a matter of human achieving.
Deacon John Ruscheinsky
In today's
Responsorial Psalm we hear, "The
heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament proclaims His handiwork...
Their message goes out through all the earth" (Ps. 19:2-3; 5). We are
called, like the early disciples, to let the Word pour out of our mouths for
all to hear and receive the knowledge of God.
Today the Church
honors Sts. Philip and James, Apostles of Jesus Christ. I read these comments
from the "Saint of the Day" posted on AmericanCatholic.org:
"As in the case
of the other Apostles, we see in James and Philip human men who became
foundation stones of the Church, and we are reminded again that holiness and
its consequent apostolate are entirely the gift of God, not a matter of human
achieving. All power is God's power, even the power of human freedom to accept
His gifts. 'You will be clothed with power from on high,' Jesus told Philip and
the others. Their first commission had been to expel unclean spirits, heal
diseases, and announce the Kingdom. They learned, gradually, that these
externals were sacraments of an even greater miracle inside their persons-the
divine power to love like God."
What is the most
important thing we need in life? For
those of us who are older we can remember what the Baltimore Catechism taught
us, "To know, love, and serve God!" Yes, that is it - to know God!
This is the best thing we can posses in our lives and it ultimately brings us
joy, contentment, fullness of life, and happiness. Our knowledge of God is not
limited to simply knowing something about Him. In addition, we are called to
have a relationship with Him and come to know Him personally.
Jesus Christ makes it
possible for us to know our heavenly Father. To see Jesus is to see what God is
like. In Jesus we get to see the perfect love of God; a God Who cares intensely
for all that He has created.
In our prayers let us
ask for the power of God's love to be in our hearts. Like the Apostles, we too
have a commission to expel unclean spirits, heal diseases of the soul, and
announce the Kingdom
of God