http://wau.org/meditations/current/
Meditation: Hebrews 10:19-25
Saint John Bosco, Priest (Memorial)
We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. (Hebrews 10:24)
When Sheila started volunteering at a homeless shelter once a week, she couldn’t stop talking about it. She loved sitting down with the residents and chatting with them. She liked hearing their stories and praying with them. Sheila’s excitement was so striking that first one friend, and then another asked if they could come along. Soon they became regular volunteers as well. You might say Sheila was “rousing” her friends to love and good works.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. When you read this verse, you might think of someone standing on a soapbox telling you to go out and “do the right thing.” But the Greek word used here for “rouse” can also mean “excite.” We are supposed to get one another excited about the Christian life and all that it entails! That’s how we rouse one another, by our passion and our example, as much as by our words.
So what excites you about your life in Christ? Maybe you love the one-on-one time you spend with Jesus in Eucharistic adoration. Perhaps your passion is reading and studying Scripture. You might enjoy serving in a ministry like RCIA or teaching English as a second language. Whatever it is, your excitement is attractive and contagious. It may be just the thing that rouses another person to take up the same spiritual practice or join you in a good work.
If you haven’t been feeling much excitement about your faith lately, think about what has excited you in the past. You may need to get back to what you were doing then or find another avenue to channel your love. If you’ve been serving for a long time in one area, for example, making a change could help reenergize you. Find out what excites your brothers and sisters. Maybe God is calling you to do the same thing.
The author of Hebrews knew that Christians need one another. You might need a fellow believer to inspire you to do something you may have never even considered. And they might need you. So don’t be afraid to communicate your passion and excitement to someone else. You might just be rousing another brother or sister to follow Jesus more closely.
“Lord, thank you for all the times a brother or sister has roused me to love, prayer, and good works.”
Psalm 24:1-6
Mark 4:21-25
Vatican Council II
Ad gentes: Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church, § 21
“May your light shine before others” (Mt 5:16)
For the gospel cannot be deeply imprinted on the talents, life and work of any people without the active presence of laymen...Their main duty, whether they are men or women, is the witness which they are bound to bear to Christ by their life and works in the home, in their social group, and in own professional circle. For in them there must appear the new man created according to God in justice and true holiness (Eph. 4:24). But they must give expression to this newness of life in the social and cultural framework of their own homeland, according to their own national traditions. They must be acquainted with this culture. They must heal it and preserve it. They must develop it in accordance with modern conditions, and finally perfect it in Christ. Thus the faith of Christ and the life of the Church will no longer be something extraneous to the society in which they live, but will begin to permeate and transform it. Let them be one with their fellow countrymen in sincere charity, so that there may appear in their way of life a new bond of unity and of universal solidarity, drawn from the mystery of Christ...This obligation is all the more urgent, because very many men can hear of the gospel and recognize Christ only by means of the laity who are their neighbors...
Let the clergy highly esteem the arduous apostolate of the laity. Let them train the laity to become conscious of the responsibility, which as members of Christ they bear for all men. Let them instruct them deeply in the mystery of Christ, introduce them to practical methods, and be at their side in difficulties...
While pastors and laymen, then, retain each their own due functions and their own responsibilities, the whole young Church should render one vital and firm witness to Christ, and thus become a shining beacon of the salvation which comes to us in Christ.