Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish

FR MICHAEL BIBLICAL IMAGERY

(Fr Michael Boakye Yeboah: Vice Rector of St Gregory Seminary, Kumasi-Ghana)

HERE I AM LORD, SEND ME

            One of the parting words of Jesus to all his disciples is “go therefore and make disciples of all nations…” Every baptized person officially shares in the ministry of Christ and in the great mandate. Once you are baptized, our Catholic faith teaches that one comes to share in the three-fold character of the Christ mission: as a priest, a prophet, and a king. In fact, when it comes to the Christ mission, the work assigned to an ordained priest should not be so different from the one assigned to a lay Catholic. The two groups of people are all called to bear witness in different ways. Though blessed with different charisms, they all work by the power of one spirit and in one name – Jesus Christ.

            If the first reading introduces us to the theme “Here I am Lord, send me”; it should not be seen as a statement for those who have the vocation to the priesthood and religious life. Before, we reflect on the duties of various ministers in a given parish, let us start from the social setting. Scripture states that the first vocation God instituted was the vocation to married life. A couple holds a unique vocation in our world and they are those who should first make the statement “here I am Lord, send me.” Before we all gather in a given church, we all start our journey from our respective homes. The home is therefore first church, where parents and guardians are extraordinary ministers of God’s word. They need to tell Jesus that in their respective homes, they will make sure that the word of God will serve as the light for their path and a guide of life. If a child receives a good foundation at home through his/her parents ministry, then his/her coming to the church will be a continuation of what (s)he has started at home.

            When a Christian family departs from their home en route to the church, they should bear active witness in the society. Remember, the early believers were just passing through Antioch, when the town folks called them Christian because they saw something in them that bore witness to the life of Christ. When we accept God’s call and we tell him to send us, we should be ready to bear witness in season and out of season. If we are making efforts to live up to our respond to Jesus’ call, then we should practise our faith at home, in our places of work and other social engagement and in the church. It is easy to some extent to practise one’s faith in the church but it takes courage to practice the faith in a society which seem to be at odds with Christianity. Our society/world to some extent is sick and gradually, gradually, it is distancing itself from God. We need courageous and anointed men of God and lay ministers who go and re-evangelize our world. Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI made re-evangelization one of his main mission because he knew where the world stood as regard “the sense of God.”   

            Like Peter in today’s Gospel, we have been called by name to go and Christianize society. If we decide to get involve in God’s work, we stand to benefit a great deal. St Peter allowed Jesus in his life and Jesus changed his life forever. Like Peter you may work and work day and night, if God is not made to get involved, you will have little success. When Jesus got involved in Peter’s line of work will results were massive. The fishermen on duty that day testified that they had not made that large a catch throughout their professional fishing careers. That is what Jesus does to someone who makes Jesus part of his/her life. As we work for Jesus and spread the faith, he will also work for us and make our businesses prosper.