06-04-24 Api Kecil yang Menjadi Bara Besar: Misi Kita sebagai Rasul Masa Kini

Easter Saturday "Mk 16:9-15" Now when he rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene...they would not believe it. After this he appeared in another form to two of them, as they were walking into the country...but they did not believe them. Afterward he appeared to the eleven themselves as they sat at table; and he upbraided them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who saw him after he had risen. And he said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation". First there is a reproach; then there is a command. The reproach is that they didn't believe those whom Jesus sent to them. The command is to go and preach the Gospel to the whole creation. First, we need faith; then we can bring that faith to others; and this is what Jesus has commanded us to do. The French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray once told a story which he had heard from an Orthodox priest. After the Passover, as Jesus ascended into Heaven, He gazed down on earth and saw it in darkness, except for a few tiny lights in Jerusalem. On His way to Heaven He met the Angel Gabriel, who was accustomed to undertaking earthly missions. The Angel asked Him, "What are those little lights?" "They are the Apostles that surround my Mother," Jesus answered him. "This is my plan: once I return to Heaven, I will send them the Holy Spirit so that these small lights can turn into a great bonfire that will ignite the world with charity." The Angel dared to ask, "And if this plan does not work?" After a moment's silence, Jesus answered, "I do not have any other plan!" God has no other plans! If the Apostles had failed, many souls would have remained oblivious of the Gospel message. We are the Apostles now. What a great responsibility! How many souls may depend on whether you and I become real apostles! What we don't do... remains undone, because God has no other plans. "Many great things depend - don't forget it - on whether you and I live our lives as God wants" (St Josemaría). My Mother, Queen of the Apostles, pray for me that I may never forget it: many souls depend on me.