In Conversation with God – Volume 7 Part 2: Special Feasts: October – December by Fernandez Francis

Author:Fernandez, Francis [Fernandez, Francis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scepter (UK) Ltd
Published: 2011-11-27T05:00:00+00:00

46.2 Winning new apostles for Christ.

And He said to them, ‘Go into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature.[277] Every Christian needs to feel urged by our Lord to fulfil Christ’s command with courage and daring in the ordinary circumstances of his or her life. As John Paul II reminds us: We Christians are called to be apostolically daring, with our confidence firmly placed in the Holy Spirit.[278]

As we look around us we realize that there are many people who still do not yet know Christ. Many who are baptized live as though Christ had not redeemed them, as if He were not truly present in our midst every day. Many go about their lives like those who drew down the compassion of Jesus, crowds who were bewildered and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd.[279] They go on and on, without any specific aim in life, disoriented, and wasting their precious time, since they seem to have no sense of direction. Like the Lord, we too are filled with compassion for those people. Though at times they seem – humanly speaking – happy and successful, they fail in the worst way possible because they do not behave as, nor are they even aware of being, children of God on a journey to the eternal Home of their Father. We cannot let the eternal salvation of anyone be at risk due to our lack of apostolic spirit.

We are called to share our faith and zeal for souls with others. These souls in their turn can become messengers of the Good News that Christ has left us. In the thousand and one different details of our everyday life, we need to echo John Paul II’s words when he spoke in Xavier, the birthplace of the saint whose feast we celebrate today: Christ needs you and calls you to help a great many of your brothers and sisters to be saved and fulfil their humanity. Live your life according to upright and noble ideals. Do not give in to the temptations of hedonism, to the hate and violence that degrade humanity. Open your heart to Christ, to his law and his love, without putting conditions on your availability, and fearing to make a lasting commitment, because love and friendship have no limits since they are everlasting.[280] If we are ever unable to convince our relatives and friends to take part in this divine adventure, the most joyful undertaking of all, let us consider how Ignatius won over the young student Xavier for the work of the Lord: Reasons?... What reasons could the poor Ignatius have given to the wise Xavier?[281] Surely they must have been few and shabby for bringing about so profound a change in the soul of his friend. Prayer brought about the conversion. We are all called to be daring, to confide always in Our Lord’s grace, in the help of the Blessed Virgin and of the Holy Guardian Angels in spreading the Faith.

Let us ask the

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