SATURDAY MAY 11, 2024
SATURDAY AFTER ASCENSION OF THE LORD B
Acts 18:23-28
John 16:23-28
BUILDING BOND WITH THE FATHER AND COLLABORATING IN THE MINISTRY
Jesus looked up to the Father for sustenance, for direction of his mission and success in mission. He never does anything without clearance from the Father. His coming to us as man was in obedience to the will of the Father.
Same way, Jesus expects and call us to cling to the Father in prayer and in action. We can achieve nothing without the Father. Jesus’ closeness, trust and dependence on the Father is unequalled. He states, “I came from the Father and have come into the world, again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” He knows the power in the Father and how seriously dangerous our world is without the Father on our side.
Jesus reassures us of the love of God our Father. His desire is that we be yoked with the Father in life. He encourages us to ask and to request from the Father whatever we need. To strengthen our bond with the Father is our task. Jesus urges us to strive not just to live but to live trusting and depending on the Father. This bond with the Father, which we are expected to build and maintain is best done in prayer, meditation and actions of love that we engage ourselves in.
The overall interest of Jesus is that we build the great bond and stay with the Father in life. In this bond is our salvation and our joy, our comfort and our well-being, our peace and our eternity.
Staying in close bond with the Father entails again being and working in collaboration with the people of God. Today’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostles tells us how Apollos a great disciple of Christ collaborated with the apostles and even with Priscillia and Aquila, women who taught him the value and importance of the Holy Spirit.
In himself, Appolos was a man versed in the scriptures and a Jews who knew the dictates of the Jewish religious obligations very well. He understands the role of Jesus in salvation history according to the scriptures as he knew and taught this very well. Yet, he lacked the most important aspect, which is the direction and importance of the Holy Spirit. It was in the company of Priscillia and Aquila, women who had been there and with the apostles that he was taught and schooled on this aspect of the life in Christ.
Collaborating with these women, Appolos was able to move faster in faith and became greater in action. Collaboration in the ministry is necessary for fuller knowledge of God, greater effectiveness in the ministry and cooperation in the mission.
No one knows it all and no one is an island. We must be humble to submit to authorities, to work cooperatively with others, to learn new and important things from others, to be opened to corrections, to growth and to new ideas and to accommodate other people into our lives for the sole purpose of collaborating in the mission of saving souls and bringing the gospel to people.
The Christian life is more ecclesia than personal, it is a community than a person and God wants us to build this community of faith with him at the centre. Such can only be achieved when we first bond with God our Father and secondly, bond in collaborating with others in the faith. With these our Good God will bless our labours and crown our efforts with success.
God our Father, we trust in you. Help us to cling to you, in prayer, supplications and meditation. Draw us nearer to your heart and may our petitions find answers in you. Remove from us the spirits of competition, arrogance, disunity and pride and fill our hearts with humility, unity and oneness, such that we may live and work with greater collaboration with others in the task of saving souls through Christ our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
