“You are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God’s household” (c.f. Ephesians 2:19-20) OUR VDMFa IS A FAMILY OPEN TO ALL PEOPLE August 12-18, 2013 Objective of the Week: To enter in the dynamism of the Word of God as Verbum Dei Family who has its source in the Word of God. To be able to realize that the VDMFa is a family open to all people and that we may learn to pray for each of our own realities as disciples of Christ.
IntroductionOur guidelines of prayer last week helped us to realize our missionary identity, that we are called to be Christ for others, that we share in the same mission of Christ that is to bring all the people to the Love of God. This mark of ownership of God over our life has been placed on us since the time of our baptism and up to now we share in the same identity of Christ being a child of God. Eph 2:19-20 “So you are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow-citizens with the holy people of God and part of God’s household. You are built upon the foundations of the apostles and prophets, and Christ Jesus himself is the cornerstone.” God does not consider each one of us as strangers or mere visitors. We are already part of God’s household. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ by virtue of our baptism. So that we all have a right to become a child of God. We have a part in this Verbum Dei family. We are all equal members in God’s household, possessing all the qualifications and good attributes being a child of God. Romans 12: 9-10 “Love must be completely sincere. Hate what is evil, hold on to what is good. Love one another warmly as Christians, and be eager to show respect for one another.” Christ being the cornerstone of this unique household in the Kingdom of God teaches each one of us to love each other sincerely and unconditionally. All people, good and bad alike, are all welcome to the household of God. They are all family. The love of God over us is not discriminating. God welcomes all to his kingdom, giving each one of us equal chances and opportunities to deeply discover His love through slow but constant daily and humble conversion. We must treat each other with respect, accepting and forgiving each one’s faults and failures. With Jesus Christ as our model in God’s household, we are all invited to be kind and humble enough to welcome each one having the realization that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ. MondayYou are called to share the good news of God’s love for all. On the other hand you are also called to love your neighbor as you love yourself. “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples; baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything I have commanded you. And I will be with you always, to the end of age.” (Matthew 28:19-20) “And now I give you a new commandment, love one another, as I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34) Given the missionary identity of Christ, we are not only called to proclaim and share the Life-Love of Christ to others, teaching them to pray, to assimilate and to live out the word of God, but more so we in the process do not lose the very basic commandment, to love one another just as Jesus has loved us. This kind of love will make us to welcome all into this family of God. We do not choose to whom to share God’s love. We do not discriminate. Even though we think how unworthy a person can be in the eyes of men, but in the eyes of God, this person is most worthy of God’s love and forgiveness. So, we never discriminate. Can we give each one a chance in the household of God, just as God has given you endless chances every time? TuesdayGod gives you special purpose and task “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has chosen me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed and announce that the time has come when the Lord will save His people.” (Luke 4:18) Being a faithful member of God’s family, we are invited always to perform our tasks joyfully and passionately. Are you aware of this special task of God for us? We are all sent by God to proclaim liberty to the captives, to recover the sight of the blind, to set free the oppressed and to announce that the time has come when the God will save us. What an incredible task! Are we happy to accept this task given by God? Do we find it possible or do we find it mission impossible? We must all know and realize that Jesus needs us. He could not do all these mission with Him alone. He needs each one of us to take a part in this task to save a lot of miserable people around us. God trusts us so much. He needs so much our collaboration. What he needs of us is love, courage and faith. That we may love Jesus so much in others so as to cause our mouth to open and speak about his love. That we may love Jesus so much in others so as to cause our hands to touch other peoples pain and desperation. That we may love Jesus so much in others so as to cause our feet to walk toward the places where people need so much to hear about the love of God for them. Do you treat each one as family? Do you have enough time to care about what’s going on in each one’s life? WednesdayRemain united to Jesus Christ as the Head I am the vine, and you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will bear much fruit; for you can do nothing without me.” (John 15:5) It is very vital in the performance of our discipleship being a member of God’s family to always remain connected to the source who is Jesus Christ. For it is always in Christ that we can find strength, wisdom, courage, faith and perseverance to carry on the mission being his disciples. For without Christ, we can do nothing. Like all the saints, they always find their inspiration in Christ. May we not be troubled by the daily tasks ahead but like Mary we should learn to choose the best part. The best part in the mission is that when we always internally connect our heart to the heart of Christ in prayer. ThursdayJesus’ heart is filled with compassion for his people “Jesus got out of the boat, and when he saw the large crowd, his heart was filled with pity for them, and he healed their sick.” (Matthew 14:14) Jesus invites us in our prayer today that our heart be likened to his heart. Not until our hearts are filled with compassion and mercy could we have the desire and interest to follow the path of Christ. Our heart must learn to become selfless and sensitive, wanting what’s best for the other more than ourselves. To be compassionate and merciful, this we could do easily to our immediate members of the family and to our friends. But what about those whom we hardly know? What about those who we less care about? Can we still be compassionate and merciful to them like how we treat our own families? Jesus heart is always a compassionate and sensitive heart. It doesn’t get full or fully booked. It is always expanding. It has always a room for each one person. Like Jesus, may we not limit the capacity of our hearts. May we always have a room in it reserved for each one that may come our way. For this, we need to pray. FridayJesus believes in our capacity to do the mission “They don’t have to leave,” answered Jesus. “You yourselves give them something to eat!” (Matthew 14:16) Jesus really treats each person as family. He enjoys each one’s company, thus he doesn’t want anyone of us to leave His side. He desires that we may always be one with Him. Now that Jesus is not physically around to do the mission, he designates each one to be his representative. When he said, “You yourselves give them something to eat”, he is relaying to us the message that He wants us to treat one another as family and that He trusts that we can do it for him. Jesus believes in our capacity to do the mission. Jesus believes in the capacity of our hearts to love like him. Are we aware that Jesus is counting so much on our capacities to do the mission as one family? SaturdayWe are all united as one family in Christ “Do not be afraid – I will save you. I have called you by name – you are mine.” (Isaiah 43:1)
Jesus is telling us not to be afraid. We are not anymore orphans. We belong to one family. We belong to Christ because He has called each one of us by our own names. We will always remain united to Christ. All of us have our point of reference in Him, thus we can consider each one as our very own brothers and sisters. Though how different we can be of each other, but nevertheless, we are all brothers and sisters. Jesus invites us to treat each one with respect and to accept each one without discrimination. This we need to remember that no matter how different and peculiar we can be to each other, only when we connect to Christ can we become one and united. Thus, Jesus’ call to love each other is inevitable, because once connected to Him who is the source, we too can give the kind of love that Jesus has. Comments are closed.
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