WEDNESDAY APRIL 24, 2024
WEDNESDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF EASTER B
Acts 12:24-13:5
John 12:44-50
UNDERSTANDING AND ACKNOWLEDGING THE DIVINE INITIATIVE AND MANDATE IN OUR MISSION ON EARTH
Most times we think ourselves and our lives as mere ordinary. We attribute to our actions on earth, life, mission, or even our careers on earth as merely our choice, or what I want to do, or how I want to live, or what I like or enjoy doing. But do we sometimes pause and ask ourselves what God desires of us, wants from us, and has sent us into the world to do? Do we own ourselves, our lives and our mission on earth?
Jesus in the gospel of today, gives all credits to God our Father. He associates his life, his mission and his task on earth as emanating from God and sees himself as an emissary of God. He says about his teachings and his words, “For I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak.”
Jesus ‘ entire life is seen as initiated and in conformity with divine mandate and authority. He can only do what the Father sent him to do. Jesus sees himself as intimately associated and bound with God.
So to believe in Jesus is to believe in the Father. To follow the teachings of Jesus is to follow the instructions of God. So Jesus associates his life, his actions, his teachings and his entire mission as having the mandate and being initiated by God. Anyone who follows him therefore is invariably following God, working with God and living in God. And he makes bold to say that the people with him cannot walk in darkness but have come to light because, Jesus says, “I have come as light into the world.”
For his disciples and apostles, we see also in the first reading how their lives and mission were oriented towards God. The disciples and apostles of Jesus maintained their connection to the Father, the Son and in the Holy Spirit. This was more seen in their prayer life and fasting. They continued in the breaking of bread, they relied on the unction and direction of the Holy Spirit. So when Paul and Barnabas were called to the mission that they have been prepared and called, they understood their callings and willingly gave in to it.
A life being built and surrounded by the God the Father in the Holy Spirit is bound to succeed. We must learn to associate and orientate our lives, our being, ourselves and mission on earth to that of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Our careers in life cannot be excluded from the Christian faith and life. We did not just come to enjoy life or to live in the world but we are in the world to fulfill the divine initiative and mandate of our creator and Saviour Jesus Christ. We have a destiny to fulfill and a life to live, ordered and divinely mandated by our God. We need to listen, discover and attend to this life.
The only way to do this is by living in close union with the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit who order our lives. Praying, fasting, seeking the divine wisdom, listening to God and acting from the point of view of divine powers will make us fulfill our mission on earth. We need to look beyond the physical into the more spiritual realm to know what God’s plans are for each and every one of us. It is not difficult, neither is it impossible, but we can be careless. Until we know and begin to submit ourselves to divine authority and powers, we may just be wallowing in ignorance and straying from our mission on earth.
God our Father, you sent your Son with a special mission on earth and your apostles and disciples were guided to understand and follow your plans for them. Guide us Lord on our mission on earth. Direct the course of our lives. May our destiny unfold and be fulfilled on earth. Dispose our minds and hearts to follow your promptings, your ways and your plans for our lives, for in them is our fulfillment, our joy and our eternal rewards through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
