By Pravin S. csc –
Readings: Acts 5: 27-33; Jn 3: 31-36
The liturgy of the word invites us to be missionaries and to make Christ known to the world. When we want to be a missionary, we need to have a lot of courage and confidence. Where do we get courage? It is only from Jesus. He gives us courage by sending the Holy Spirit upon us through the
sacraments.
All are called to be missionary of the word of God to the whole word. We need to be deeply connected with the Christ and his teachings. What is mission? It is not only going around the world and proclaiming the gospel but also inviting our children, relatives, friends, and neighbors to our place, making them to understand the love of God in the form of prayer, and helping them to practice the values of Christ in their life. We need to be faithful to Christ to be missionaries to proclaim the good news to others in our lifestyle and attitude.
In the first reading, the apostles were very courageous to stand for Christ. Peter reminds us to be obedient to Christ than obedient to the people who mislead us. Our ultimate call is to obey God and live our life according to His will. We are called to proclaim the word of God to others and practice it in our life. We have many exemplary saints in our Catholic Church who lived their life faithfully to God and his mission in proclaiming the word of God. So, we too are called to be his beloved to proclaim the word of God to others.
The gospel reading gives us invitation to believe in Christ and bear witness to him by following his teaching in our life. When we bear witness to him, he will shower his blessings upon us unconditionally. So, we are called to be an instrument of God to proclaim the word of God to all.