Reading 1 Phil 2:5-11
Responsorial Psalm Ps 22:26b-27, 28-30ab, 30e, 31-32
Gospel Lk 14:15-24
God wants his house to be full. As St. Paul affirmed and as the Church’s teaching has so frequently re-affirmed, God desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Such is the goodness of God who created the human person to know him, love him and serve him in this life, and to enjoy his presence forever in the life to come.
God gives the possibility of final salvation to all people. And by his eternal design, he has chosen us, his beloved, to bring the message of salvation to all people. Consequently, those of us striving to live our lives as committed Christians must take to heart St Paul’s own concern: “`Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him?”
During his public ministry, Jesus sent out the twelve apostles. He later sent out the seventy-two disciples. Furthermore, the all- important encounter with Jesus, as portrayed in the Gospel narratives, engenders excitement and the desire to go and find others who might share in that experience. Andrew goes and finds Peter. Philip goes and finds Nathaniel. The man from Gadara, once freed from the oppression of demons, goes and tells everyone in his town what Jesus did for him. The Samaritan woman goes back into her village of Sychar and tells everyone to come and see a man who told her everything she ever did. An authentic encounter with Jesus impels us to bring others to him. And just as with his disciples, Jesus sends each one of us to go and work for the establishment of his Kingdom. The mission entrusted to the apostles on Ascension Thursday: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations!” is a mission entrusted, not only to the apostles and their successors, but to the whole Church and to each and every member incorporated into the Church through baptism. Without our collaboration, God’s house will not be full.
Jesus is depending on each one of us to be his voice, his message, his hands, his feet, his faithful collaborator in bringing the truth of the Gospel to people everywhere. To be true Christians, it is
necessary that we be active apostles, never losing an opportunity that Jesus give us to share the message of truth with all those around us. We can begin today to spread the Good News of Jesus Christ by making a positive effort to imbue our home or workplace with Christian goodness, by word and action.