Nehemiah 13:2
2 for they did not welcome the Israelites with bread and water. They gave money to Balaam to curse them, but our God turned their curse into a blessing.”
Beloved, how powerfully we have seen these words proved true during the entire visit of Your Vicar on earth, Pope Benedict XVI in the U.K. If one had to go by the predictions in the secular media prior to the visit, the entire trip was doomed to be a failure. Every dissenting voice of every stripe, creed and color raised their voices in ugly disparagement of all that Your Church stands for. They painted her in the blackest of colors and paraded once more the sins of a few of her ministers, (although one child who is hurt is one too many). Despite all the mea culpas, the voices continued to rise in crescendo. Yet there she stood in the person of our Holy Father, the Pope, calmly, serenely, trustfully, faithfully, strong and lovely. Smiling gently, wise with the wisdom of 2000 years behind her. Confident that her Bridegroom will carry her through the stormiest ocean. Every curse was transformed into a blessing and a benediction. Praise You Lord!!! Alleluia!!!!
Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-13
• 1 Therefore I, the prisoner of Christ, invite you to live the vocation you have received. 2 Be humble, kind, patient, and bear with one another in love.
3 Make every effort to keep among you the unity of Spirit through bonds of peace. 4 Let there be one body and one spirit, for God, in calling you, gave the same Spirit to all. 5 One Lord, one faith, one baptism. 6 One God, the Father of all, who is above all and works through all and is in all.
7 But to each of us divine grace is given according to the measure of Christ’s gift.
11As for his gifts, to some he gave to be apostles, to others prophets, or even evangelists, or pastors and teachers. 12 So he prepared those who belong to him for the ministry, in order to build up the Body of Christ, 13 until we are all united in the same faith and knowledge of the Son of God. Thus we shall become the perfect Man, upon reaching maturity and sharing the fullness of Christ.
My Beloved, what a glorious destination Your Bride, the Church, Your Body has. How beautifully St. Paul describes our calling. Here he gives us a blueprint of your Your members must live. In so doing, we silence the Enemy for he is powerless when we are what you always intend Your children to be. You have given to all gifts and charisms, according to the need of the Church to build up Your Body so that it grows strong and beautiful - a place where everyone finds a welcome - all find a home, all are united in perfect harmony in You and with You as our Head.
Matthew 9:9-13
9 As Jesus moved on from there, he saw a man named Matthew at his seat in the custom-house, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And Matthew got up and followed him. 10 Now it happened, while Jesus was at table in Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and other sinners joined Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this they said to his disciples, “Why is it that your master eats with those sinners and tax collectors?”12 When Jesus heard this he said, “Healthy people do not need a doctor, but sick people do. 13 Go and find out what this means: What I want is mercy, not sacrifice. I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.”
Beloved, You are the one who takes the initiative that is why You have given us the 3 Sacraments of initiation - Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Communion. You call and You graft us into Your Body, You empower and You feed us. Faith is Your free gift to us. In this Gospel passage You see Matthew, You have plans for him, he makes a generous and immediate response when You say, "Come follow Me." He left his past behind without a backward glance just like Peter and Andrew.
You saw Matthew's potential despite the fact that he was a sinner and a tax collector. All the Pharisees can see are his sins and they condemn him because of them. Their vision is distorted by their pre-conceived ideas of what it means to be counted among God's people.
You have no use for those who are full of themselves, their personal world view, their religion of truth as being whatever they want it to be or whatever the current fad is. You came for the hungry, the thirsty, the sick, the imprisoned. You came to be our food and drink. You came to bring healing and to set us free to love You, serve You and be happy with You. Joyfully, gleefully, wonderfully happy with You in this life and eternally in the life to come.
Psalm 19:2-5
2 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the firmament proclaims the work of his hands.
3 Day talks it over with day;
night hands on the knowledge to night.
4 No speech, no words, no voice is heard –
5 but the call goes on throughout the universe,
the message is felt to the ends of the earth.
From one generation of followers and disciples to the next, the Gospel of Christ is preached in season and out of season, from the rooftops and in the valleys, in silence and in the shadow of the cross. All who receive the Good News of salvation will continue to carry the torch forward to the ends of the until time itself will cease on earth.
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