+ Today we rejoice as the Church celebrates the great Solemnity
of the Martyrdoms of St. Peter and St. Paul -
and
we also rejoice in the celebration of the twelfth anniversary of the foundation
of the Congregation of the Joyful
Servants of the Cross.
It was the intention of the
Risen Jesus to preserve his real, true
and very much living Presence for the sustenance of the spiritual lives of
those living in the world – who call themselves his disciples. This, until the time, foreordained by his Father for him
to come again as Judge! And beyond that, Jesus was now a potential friend of
all men and women – due to the merits of his own Suffering, Death and
Resurrection.
These actions established
friendship once again between God and mankind; and so he wanted a way to continue that relationship of friendship
with as many who would want it – until the end of time - and so he founded a living organism called “The Church” –
to actually be his Mystical (Invisible) but very real presence in the world; and to communicate his friendship to as many as
possible through it.
This would not occur without
much opposition and sacrifice – especially at the very beginning!
In the gospel passage today [taken from the
Vigil Mass], Jesus chooses Peter to be head of the Apostles and head of the
Church by his three-fold dialogue with him about his willingness to feed the lambs and tend the sheep! Feeding the sheep would be the easy
part: the preaching, the teaching, the healing, the consoling; tending the sheep would be the hard
part: tending refers to suffering: Jesus tells Peter to suffer for the sheep, suffer with and for
the beloved sheep: to be a good shepherd, going after the lost, carrying
the weak, and being willing to give his very life for them – as he, Jesus did!
And Peter did both; he fed and he tended
– and he ended up by giving his life on the Vatican Hill in Rome – for the good
of Christ’s Mystical Body, the
Church, and to unite himself completely and thoroughly with Christ who gave his
life for him!
St.
Paul was likewise commissioned by Jesus, in person, in a similar
post-resurrection encounter with Jesus – to
feed and tend; to impart the
knowledge of God to as many in the Gentile world who would listen, and to sacrifice himself greatly for the cause
– ending by finishing the race – and
giving his life by martyrdom as well!
The
entire existence of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church rests
therefore on Jesus who gave it; and the
faith of Peter, and the teaching of
Paul that proclaimed and instilled it!
Among
the helpers of the successors of generations of bishops,
clergy, religious and laypersons who belong to this magnificent reality called
Church we have the Joyful Servants of the
Cross (coming into existence on this date in 2005, in Boston, MA) who have
as their aim:
to
appreciate the Death/Resurrection Dynamic that is forever ensured by the
incomparable Human/Divine Death and Resurrection of Jesus, once and for all;
and (being their charism) to bring the
Joy and the Hope and the Peace that comes from the Pierced side of Christ
to all the world – by any simple acts of helpfulness or kindness that are
called for with others – but especially by their daily and constant intercessory prayer for the intentions
of all that are entrusted to them.
With
the help and protection of Sts Peter and Paul, the Congregation asks this day for the
prayers of the whole Church so that they can carry on their God-given
responsibilities, as men of HOPE, and men prayer, to proclaim that a red
Cross of Suffering can always be transformed into a gold Cross of Victory
– thanks be to Jesus Christ and – according to the Rule of St. Benedict, the
Joy of St. Francis, and the Mercy Message of St. Faustina – and their own
charism, for as long as God intends!
Benedicamus Domino!
Let us bless, praise, thank
and glorify God, both now and forever! Amen!
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