At this point in your life, can you honestly say that, without Christ, you are nothing? - Daily Reflections July 9,2014

APOSTLES, MARTYRS, CHRISTIANS:

ALL OF AND IN CHRIST

 

Today’s Gospel episode consists of the calling and choosing of the Twelve Apostles, their names, and the first instructions that Jesus gives them. All these indicate a certain “constitutionality” in the Twelve. They are like a judicially established group, which nevertheless doesn’t mean that they are closed in on themselves. The mission given to them shows that they are not for themselves alone. Although it is true that Jesus’ instruction to them is for them to start their ministry with “the lost sheep of the house of Israel,” theirs is an openness which launches them always outward. And the list of the Apostles goes on across the centuries and until the present day.

       The saints are like extensions or successors of the Apostles. They have been raised by God, in response to definite times and situations in history. As a matter of fact, today is the liturgical memorial of a big group of martyrs, led by St. Augustine Zhao Rong. He was a Chinese diocesan priest who was killed, along with 119 of his companions, in the year 1815. Among their number was a teenager, an 18-year-old boy by the name of Chi Zhuzi. This brave young man cried out to those who had just cut off his right arm and were preparing to flay him alive: “Every piece of my flesh, every drop of my blood will tell you that I am a Christian.”

       Such an astonishing conviction proves the underlying tenet which every saint, every apostle, and indeed every Christian holds on to: that we are all of and in Christ Himself (“Christian”). The last three letters seem to form an acronym, should they be separated from the name Christ: i, a, and n. And we take these initials to stand for “I am nothing” — without Christ, that is. Only with and in Jesus do we have our identity, our being, and our courage to bear witness to Him. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB

 

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: At this point in your life, can you honestly say that, without Christ, you are nothing?

 

Please don’t let go of my hand, Lord, even when I sometimes seem to be trying to break free from You.