How are you responding to your baptismal call to be a prophet, priest and king ? - Daily Reflections July 8,2015

WE ARE MISSIONARIES, TOO!

 

Jesus sent His Twelve disciples on a mission, not because He was getting tired or lazy. He was preparing them for His ascension into heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit. We will recall that Jesus, as soon as He began His ministry, chose the Twelve. That gesture is very significant and consistent with God’s way of involving the cooperation of man in His work of salvation. From the time of Adam and Eve, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to the prophets, judges and kings, Mary, Joseph and John, and then to the Apostles, God had given us the message that even if He created us, He will not save us without our consent.

       The Twelve will be Jesus’ witnesses to everything that He did. Being with Him in His three-year ministry prepared them for the foundation of the Church which will be God’s sacrament of presence in the world. The mission sending is a prelude to the coming responsibility of the Church to proclaim the Good News to all men. It is the task of the Church to be faithful to what Jesus said and did. The Church here refers to all the baptized led by the pope, bishops and priests.

       The same responsibility was given to us when we were baptized. We received the threefold functions of Jesus: prophet, priest and king. As prophet, we proclaim and witness to the Word of God. As priest, we serve by praying for and inspiring each other in the liturgy. As king, we guide our fellow baptized in living a moral Christian life. We are our brother’s keeper. At the end of every Mass, we are being sent out on mission.

       Unfortunately, this responsibility is either forgotten, taken for granted, or not known at all. Parents and godparents have the responsibility to rear their children and godchildren in the faith. They should be able to hand on the faith they professed for them when they were children. The children, in turn, should hand on the faith to the next generation. We are all part of the chain. Do we hold the lines that keep the chain connected? Fr. Benny Tuazon

 

REFLECTION QUESTION: How are you responding to your baptismal call to be a prophet, priest and king ?