AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST

 

We have a guest blogger today. Arlene B. Muller (Arlene Clare Muller, OFS) is a lector and EM at St. Pancras Church in Glendale, NY, a singer in the choir at St. Margaret's Church in Middle Village, NY, a professed Secular Franciscan & Formation Director at St. Adalbert's Secular Franciscan fraternity in Elmhurst, NY & an itinerant speech/language therapist who works with preschool children with delayed language development. In addition to her ministries & work she seeks to promote the GOSPEL & the GOSPEL OF LIFE, especially in writing & frequently on FACEBOOK.

On Election Day as I worried & prayed about the outcome of this election, I was reminded that, like all my brothers & sisters in CHRIST, I am a woman of dual citizenship.

As Lee Greenwood wrote in his famous song "GOD BLESS THE USA", "I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free..." & very loyal to being a law-abiding citizen of the USA, exercising my right to vote.

But as St. Paul wrote in his epistles, "our citizenship is in heaven". So, we are BOTH citizens of heaven, first & foremost, & THEN citizens of the USA. And, as St. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5, we (meaning ALL CHRISTIANS & not just St. Paul & his ministry companions, which I had confirmed by the priest who presided at the 9AM Mass at St. Adalbert's on Election Day) are "AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST, God, as it were, appealing through us" to exhort people to be reconciled to GOD.
We need to take our dual citizenship in HEAVEN AND in the USA AND our role as an AMBASSADOR FOR CHRIST very seriously, & regardless of the outcome of elections we must always live as dual citizens & as ambassadors for CHRIST.

In the LORD'S PRAYER/OUR FATHER, which we probably pray countless times, sometimes with full consciousness & sometimes by rote, we pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."  Although until Our LORD JESUS returns to set up the Kingdom of heaven on earth at His Second Coming, Our LORD'S Kingdom will still be, as He told Pontius Pilate, a kingdom "not of this world", & we will still need to live in an earthly country that is NOT a theocracy & NOT a Catholic country, & we will have to respect the religious freedom & religious pluralism that is part of the rights of others in the USA as well as our own rights to be protected, as Christians (and even more so as Catholics), we still need to demonstrate what it means to live IN the world BUT NOT OF the world, and that is how we must live our lives & provide good examples of living as citizens in the Kingdom of heaven by our behavior, actions and words & our very character and in our voting decisions as well.

Hopefully as we live in the tension of dual citizenship we can have a positive impact on our country & help promote values that make our world more closely align with & resemble heaven until the day dawns when Our LORD returns & we can rejoice in singing the familiar words from the Book of Revelation put to music by George Frederick Handel in the HALLELUJAH CHIRUS from Handel's MESSIAH: "The kingdom of this world is become the Kingdom of Our LORD & of His CHRIST, & He shall reign forever and ever."

Let us love one another

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Thirty-second Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

As we come to the close to the end of the Church year, the gospel readings that we’ve been hearing have been focusing more so on the end times when the Lord will come back in all his glory. The Lord in today’s gospel tells us, “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.” (Luke 17:33) What the Lord is calling us to do here is to remain focused on love and service of God. We are to place our whole life into the loving hands of God.

Further, we are not to make worldly things more important than that of our service and love of God. There will always be things that happen in the world that will take our focus away from God’s presence in our lives. There will always be wars, there will always be crime and poverty in our country and around the world, and there will always be political debates that divide us as we recently heard with the hatred and attacks going back and forth between the candidates and their followers. These are things that the Lord is not pleased to see and hear. It is in these political fights that takes our focus from the love God has for all of us.

In our first reading, Saint John is teaching us something that the Lord Jesus Christ has always emphasized: Let us love one another. (2 John 1:5) John goes on to say that we need to “walk according to the commandments.” (2 John 1:6) As Jesus has always pointed out, the commandments are broken down very simply: Love God with your whole mind, heart and soul; and love your neighbor as yourself. Loving our neighbors is not always an easy thing to do, especially when we allow political bickering to interfere with our love for each other.  By living out our lives with the love of God and love of neighbor, we will then have nothing to worry about when the time comes for the Lord’s return whenever that may be. The Lord will see our love of God and love of neighbor and bring us to the glories of heaven.

As we approach the Blessed Sacrament, let us put aside all hatred and animosity that we may have towards other people, and ask the Lord to help us to love all people as He loves us.  

If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Memorial of Saint Martin of Tours, Bishop | USCCB

In our gospel for today Jesus is pointing out the obvious regarding human nature: "Things that cause sin will inevitably occur..." (Luke 17:1) There's always temptation that may lead us to sin. We need to realize that when we do sin, we should be ready to turn back to the Lord and seek forgiveness from Him and from those we may have hurt by our sinfulness. The Lord is always there to grant us love and forgiveness. 

The challenging part of this gospel is where the Lord asks us to be always ready to forgive those that sin or hurt us. "And if he wrongs you seven times in one day and returns to you seven times saying, 'I am sorry,' you should forgive him." (Luke 17:4) I don't know about you, but I find that difficult to do. But this is what the Lord is calling us to do. Does that mean we keep going back to that person who hurts us in order to get hurt again? I don't think the Lord is asking us to do that. But He is asking us to be ready to be always forgiving. I think that it's okay to maintain our distance from those who do hurt or sin against us. 

For our own spiritual and mental well-being, I think the Lord will understand us keeping our distance from them. In the act of contrition, which we say when we go to the priest for confession, we include the phrase, "And to avoid the near occasion of sin." If being with someone that constantly hurts us leads us towards the sin of resentment and a lack of forgiveness for that person, I'm sure the Lord will understand keeping distance from them. Praying for them and forgiving them is what the Lord is calling us to do but keep your distance from them.

In conclusion, pray for those we have difficulty in forgiving and pray for ourselves to do what the Lord is calling us to do: to love God with our whole heart, and to love and forgive others and Jesus is asking us to do.

"There will be rejoicing among the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Thursday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our gospel for today we see the Pharisees and scribes, as usual, judging those who are attempting to turn back to God and repent of their sins. The Lord, in his love and mercy, is reaching out to those who have fallen away from the faith. He was accepting them and their repentance to turn back to love of God. The Lord was judging not their appearance, but rather was judging their hearts. Unfortunately, these were people that the Jewish people and leadership looked down upon. 

The tax collectors were the ones that were collecting the taxes for the Roamn government, and thus had turned away from their faith in God. Then there were those other sinners who, for whatever reason, stopped their practice of living out their Jewish faith according to the laws of Moses. The Pharisees and scribes condemned them and showed them no mercy.

With God there is love, mercy and forgiveness. We all know people that have turned away from the practice of their faith. The reasons vary from person to person. We need to pray for them that they may turn back to a loving relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We also should try to encourage them to come with us to church with open arms and a loving heart. We are not to judge them by their appearance or the way they may have lived in the past, but rather we need to show them the love and acceptance that God has for them. Jesus is calling us to love them and be as accepting of them as He is of them. God's love and mercy is for all people, not only for those who show up each week at church. The Lord Jesus is always waiting with an open heart and open arms offering love and forgiveness for all people.

Further, let us not be like the Pharisees and scribes complaining about those returning to the practice of their faith. Rather, let us rejoice when someone returns into relationship with God and seeks forgiveness. Let us be as merciful to them as Jesus is.

Let us rejoice with the angels over those who are repenting of their sins and returning into a loving relationship with God.

"Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough."

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

As we get closer to the end of the liturgical year, the gospel readings are focusing more so on the end-times. Today we hear people asking, "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Luke 13:23) They seem to me to be more worried about other people entering heaven rather than their own relationship with God. The Lord then teaches to enter through the "narrow gate." (Luke 13:24) This, I believe, teaches us to remain focused on the Lord, and to be sincere in our love for God and for others. We're not to worry about other people's relationship with God, but rather our own motivation in following Jesus. It's not always easy to do, but it's what the Lord is calling us to do.

Jesus would go on to mention about the hypocrites who claimed to be his followers but were not sincere in their love for God. They claimed to have eaten and drank in his company. The Lord's response? "‘I do not know where [you] are from. Depart from me, all you evildoers!’" (Luke 13:27)

The Lord in today's gospel is teaching us to check our motivation in being His followers. Are we doing so just because we're trying to buy our way into heaven? Or are we doing so out of true love of God and neighbor. Being a follower of Jesus Christ is not easy. In order to follow the Lord, we need to pick up our crosses and follow him. It's not easy, like going through a wide gate, but rather, we are to walk carefully through the narrow gate. We need to remain focused on the Lord and our love for Him and following his commands of always loving God and loving our neighbors. It is in this way that others may see our sincere love of God, and then they themselves may feel drawn to act in a way pleasing to God. Is it easy? No! But certainly, it'll have great rewards. 

You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come

 

Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Wednesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB

In our Gospel for today the Lord is encouraging us to live out our lives in readiness for His eventual 2^nd coming. This could be either the end times when the Lord comes at the end of the world, or the day when we eventually meat the Lord at the end of our lives. Jesus is calling us to live a live a life with Him as the center of who we are, always doing His Holy Will by how we follow Him and the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church. He’s calling us to follow Him joyfully, always knowing that he’s present to us in all we do. He’s not attempting to scare us into doing the right thing in how we live our lives. He’s just reminding us to continue to love God with our whole being.

We are called to be faithful and prudent servants, living out our lives knowing that God is ever present to us. We, as faithful and prudent servants, are called to have God as the center of who we are. We are to love God always and to love those in our lives.

In our lives we are called to the regular use of the Sacraments, by receiving Holy Communion often, and by the regular use of confession for the times when we may have fallen short. In the gospel, the Lord points out the way of life of those who have turned away from the ways of God. They mistreat other people; they eat and drink to the point of excess and being drunk. These are ways of living the Lord is encouraging us to avoid. But if we do fall short, the Lord is there for us in the Sacrament of Confession to receive his forgiveness and love.

So, as we approach the end of the year 2024, let us always remember to keep the Lord ever in the center of our Lives, and remember that even though we may not know when we will meet the Lord face-to-face, we will be ready to face Him with Love and gratitude for the love he has for us.

The Kingdom of God is at hand for you!

 

The scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Feast of Saint Luke, evangelist | USCCB

Today we celebrate the feast of St. Luke. He was born of a pagan family and after meeting St. Paul and hearing his preaching on the Lord Jesus Christ, he converted to the Christian faith. Paul was very much influential in the life of St. Luke. As a result, St. Luke would go on to compose one the gospels and would go on to describe the early activity of the church in the Acts of the Apostles.

Paul himself was a convert to the Christian faith due to his encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. Paul was an early persecutor of the faith in Jesus Christ but after the vision of Christ on that Damascus Road, he would preach about salvation in Jesus Christ, and as a result, St. Luke came to faith, and we now have his works in scripture.

It is through St. Luke and St. Paul that we, too, have come to our Christian faith. Christ worked through them and all the early apostles and disciples to spread the good news to the whole world. We, too, are disciples of Jesus Christ and the Lord is asking us to share with those in our life and with all we meet, “The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.” We may not be called to go from town to town as the early disciples were called to do to share the Good News of Jesus Christ, but we are called to bring Christ into the world by how we live out our Christian calling of Loving God and loving neighbor. This is how people will encounter the Lord Jesus Christ.

By seeing us and how we live out our Christian faith, they may feel called to find out more about our faith. It is then that we can share the good news of the Kingdom of God. We don’t need to hang out on street corners with bibles in hand asking people to turn from their sinful ways. We just need to be the visible signs of people who are followers of Jesus Christ, called to love God as he loves us, and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. It will be then that they will encounter Jesus Christ.