THURSDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2024
THURSDAY OF THE FOURTH WEEK OF THE ORDINARY TIME B
1 Kings 2:1-4.10-12
Mark 6:7-13
OUR MISSIONARY TASK AND WORK TO THE WORLD
Our call into the Christians faith is not intended for just our personal selfish redemption and salvation but particularly we are called and summoned to the faith with the intention of proclaiming, teaching and leading others to the faith and ultimately to eternal salvation. So, Jesus calls and sends us to become cooperators in the task of drawing others to the faith and to good life.
The initial twelve disciples were summoned by Christ and as his disciples, they were schooled as apprentices, learning the master’s ways, works, mode of life, rules of engagement and acts of living. They were also schooled on the necessary things of life, the ideal life to follow and the teachings to impart. After such teachings and learning, Jesus now needs to determine how perfectly they have imbibed his true spirit and sends them out with specific instructions and admonition as we read in the gospel of today.
First, they were instructed to be singleminded and detached from the world and focused on the mission.
Then these disciple of Christ were sent out to preach, to teach, to govern and to rule according to the mind of Christ. Teaching the people was one of the essential ways to elevate the people, bringing them to understand the ways of God, leading them to acknowledge the supreme master of creation and understand their place in the scheme of creation. Teaching is one of the great ways to transmit knowledge, bring greater understanding and enhance life. That is the task assigned the disciples and the commission given them.
But what do we teach? We teach people what was handed on to us by the church. We do not teach what we think, or what we want, or what we ferment. We instruct people on the faith of the Church, the sources being the magisterium, the deposit of faith already Christ has given to us, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, his coming in glory, and how we are called to work for and with him to restore humanity to its originally God intended state. The Church owns and hands on this deposit of faith to us. As priests and lay people, what we receive from the Lord, is what we must pass on to the people. Have you received? Do you know what to teach,? What is it that you are teaching now? What Jesus wants or what you are thinking? To whose advantage are your teaching directed? God or your advantage?
Again, we sanctify people by healing body and soul? We celebrate the sacraments of Christ. And the sacraments are for healing of souls and bodies. And through the sacraments we celebrate, we call people back from death to life, from sickness to health, from ignorance to knowledge, from idleness to becoming cooperators with God. We sanctify people and make them friends of God.
Then, we administer people through our ministries to soothe their pains, alleviate their sufferings, calm their anxieties, offer them solace and help through the powers of Christ’s resurrection.
In doing all these we become channels of God’s blessings given to us at baptism and particularly as commissioned us at confirmation and ordination. Every baptized Christian is commissioned to be channel of God’s blessings to our world. This is the calling we received and we show in our lives. So we not only teach, but also we sanctify and govern people in our different styles, modes and apostolate and missions.
In our first reading, we find that David transmitted to Solomon the leadership of the people of Israel, we must also transmit to the next generation the ideal of the Christian faith unadulterated, pure and happiness of the faith. That is our calling. That is our mandate. The faith must not die in our hands.
Heavenly Father, you called us as your coworkers to expand your kingdom bringing the fruits of healthy living, peaceful coexistence and happiness to our world. Help us to understand and take up our place in the mission of teaching, sanctifying and governing assigned us. Help us to listen to you properly, live out your instructions, be channels of blessings to our world and help enliven people’s spirit to love and honor you our God. At the beginning of the month of February, we give thanks and submit ourselves to you for your guidance, protection, promotion and divine favours through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Fr Norbert Uchuno
