Readings for Today. Listen to our other podcasts.
Your Mission
Hello and welcome to Spend Five with Jesus for this Wednesday, September 27, 2023. I am the friar and it is wonderful to have you with us today.
Today is really a great gospel because it reminds us that at the heart of our baptism is our being sent forth. That really in fact is at the root of the word Mass, Missae, go forth. That’s what we say at the end of Mass.
We send all of us forth to really proclaim and share the good news of Jesus. That’s really what everything is about. That’s what our lives are about. And so it’s really good that we get this kind of focus, I think, on this this gospel that we’re called to do that.
You know, we as Catholics, this is you’ve probably heard this before, but we’re not always very good at sharing our faith, going forth. You know there are religious individuals who I think are members of groups where this going forth is really important.
The Mormons for example are very very strong in this sense of having these two years when you’re just on the cusp of beginning your adulthood of going out on mission. You know you certainly could see the Jehovah Witnesses doing something similar. I think that evangelical Catholics or excuse me evangelical Christians are very good at moving out into these situations and these circumstances where they too share the Word of God.
We have to do that because think about what we have. Think about our lives for a moment. We believe in the celebration of the Eucharist that we receive the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ. We believe that when we read the Word of God, we are in fact hearing God Himself speak to us in the Scriptures. We believe that when we are called to go forth and serve others, we are actually serving the Christ as we read in Matthew 25.
And so it is critically, critically important for us to kind of get these pieces together. And then why wouldn’t we want to share? If we had something that was precious, wouldn’t we want to share at least some of them? The benefits of that precious, precious thing with Jesus himself, with the people of God, with the Christ that we encounter, not only when they’re poor, but in fact because every human being is made in the image and likeness of God. Wouldn’t we want to share that?
Especially if in the sharing we are drawn to a deeper and better and bigger community with others. And that’s really what we celebrate. It would be not good to pass over the fact that today is also the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul.
You know, the 17th century in France was really, really a kind of a powerhouse for saints, I would say. Particularly saints who were called to serve the poor, that were called to serve those who didn’t have the same hopes, the same opportunities, the same whatever you want to call it, there were a lot of saints that were were raised up during this time and St. Vincent de Paul was one of them and he was called to serve the poor and he really did create a way of life that served the poor.
But there was an interesting twist on his vocation because the Vincentians are not only known for serving the poor, they are also known for forming clergy. And that was because St. Vincent de Paul really believed and really saw that if you wanted to serve the poor, the easiest way to help people to have their attitudes changed so they served the poor was to form the clergy.
It is really an amazing, amazing thing. And so it’s important to remember him today. They’ve got great, great ministries all over the world. They’re officially known as the Conregation of the Missions. They have a women’s religious group as well and and actually they have the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul which is a way in which many people are served by this dedication to the poor and to those who are in need.
So maybe today you could just kind of think about how can I serve the poor today? What can I do to serve someone in need? How is it that I can serve the Christ who is present in the poor and in these situations. Take care and I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.
On the friar, you can listen to our homilies (based on the readings of the day) and reflections. You can also ask us to pray for you or to pray for others. You can subscribe to our website to be informed whenever we publish an update.
About Author
