Call To Service

Sometimes, in our lives, we may find ourselves in a situation where we are called to serve the Lord in the most unexpected circumstances. This may be something as small as a kind deed or as big as performing an act of sacrifice for the betterment of someone or something else. We can never be one hundred percent sure when Jesus Christ will call us to action. I have been witness to this a countless number of times within my own ministry and I have been truly blessed to watch normal people performing extraordinary things in the course of every day life.

 

Jesus Christ, in his own ministry, would often stop what he was doing to tend to the basic needs of others or to help someone in crisis. These simple acts, directed towards the lowliness of people within society serve as a life lesson to us all and were as important as the words he spoke. Saint James himself said it best when wrote, “So faith also, if it have not works, is dead in itself.” Christian Charity goes hand in hand with our faith. You cannot have one without the other. Jesus displayed this through the feeding of the 5000 in today’s Gospel. Not only did he feed them spiritually but he tended to their physical needs, providing more than enough nourishment to have twelve baskets left over: a symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel.

 

Us as members of the Living Body of Christ cannot fathom doing what Jesus did that day, but know this: everything that we do and say in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ manifests into Christ on this earth. Every little thing that we do for ourselves, our children, family, and friends; people that we know and don’t know exemplifies our faith. It defines who and what we are. Through these acts we earn merit and are able to understand our faith more deeply. We also open ourselves up to the gift of God’s Grace. What a wonderful world this would be and what a wonderful state of being if we all could live our lives in this constant state. Impossible, yes, but something that we all could strive to do. Just the effort itself produces so many great results.

 

I am honored to witness this in our own parish community, with so many wonderful and beautiful people. I am also privileged to be able to carry out my own ministry in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ and am humbled by some of the results. There are times, when I am out in the community and I am approached by people I do not even know. They tell me how wonderful Saint John the Baptist Church is and what great work the parish community is doing. Through their eyes and their words, I know we do indeed make a difference.

 

Through our acts, we all come closer together and are open to the Love and Glory of God. And as we feed his sheep and help tend his flock, he in turn takes care of us. He feeds us and takes care of our every need. The LORD is near to all who call upon him,
to all who call upon him in truth. We call and he answers. In the same way, others call to him and he answers through us. It is a great responsibility. A responsibility born out of LOVE AND THE GLORY OF GOD.