FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION: 

TWENTY-FIFTH WEEK OF THE YEAR

By Baptism we were solemnly anointed to take responsibility for establishing the reign of Christ’s truth and love over every area and activity of human life on earth. This is our job as stewards of his kingship. We can only do it through love.

Invitation:

Jesus has invited you to help establish the reign of God on earth — here and now.

Our faith: How many of these statements do you believe? And live?

A “purely personal” religion is as contradictory as a “purely personal” patriotism. Every sin is a crime against society; every crime is a sin against God.

Environment affects attitude. So we work, as stewards of the kingship of Christ, to bring about a just society in which riches do not make people ignore God and extreme poverty does not lead them to anger and bitterness.

Jesus transformed everything. With Christianity “there is a new creation. We are consecrated by Baptism to exercise leadership in making “all things new.”

Luke 8: 16-18: God doesn’t give people graces — e.g. “enlightenment” — just for themselves. He invests in those who listen, learn and share as stewards of the light.

Luke 8: 19-21: Jesus recognizes those who act on his words as his “mother and brothers.” We are related to him more closely by grace than even Mary was by her biological kinship with him as his mother.

Luke 9: 1-6: When Jesus sends out his disciples he gives detailed instructions about living a prophetic lifestyle. The “apostolate” is more appealing than “asceticism.” And rallies draw more people than retreats. But to be effective stewards of the kingship of Christ we first have to take seriously our own spiritual growth.

Luke 9: 7-9: Herod explains Jesus as John the Baptizer risen. The Church can only be explained as Jesus in his risen body working on earth to make “all things new.

Luke 9: 18-22: Peter recognizes Jesus as something new, never seen on earth before: “Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus announces that his work will not end in death: he will rise and continue his mission in his risen body. The mystery of our stewardship is that Jesus transcends time. His work endures in us.

Luke 9: 43-45: Jesus is “handed over into the power of men.” His disciples, not looking beyond the plane of human time, see this as proof that “all is vanity.” What is entrusted to our stewardship is the truth of resurrection. That changes everything.

Decisions:

Be a responsible steward: Pick one thing you can do to try to change one thing

Maintain the stewardship of light: Seek light to be light for the world. Let Christ’s light shine in your actions. Change your life to give light to the world. Shine a new light on everything you touch. Live and labor in the light of what will be. Let your life reveal the risen Jesus working in you.