+ St Peter’s confession of faith, and then his willingness to
feed the flock of God in all charity is the rock-like
foundation of the Catholic Church – this Jesus clarifies just before he ascends
into heaven. “Belief followed by acts of love done out of obedience to Christ’s
command for us to take care of one another” is what we are all about!
Peter professed his faith by
saying “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God;” and he three-times
proclaimed in front of the other apostles: “you know that I love you Lord, yes,
I will feed your sheep and tend your lambs” – inferring not only himself but also
his descendants in the apostolic line of succession.
The true measure of a pope,
bishop or priest of today is his willingness to base everything he does on
“faith and charity” – otherwise he is a hypocritical puff of smoke and a pious
fraud – and no priest at all.
In this unstable and
challenging day in age, no less than the first century, the clergy and the
laity alike are called upon to witness to the Truth of the Church – filled with the fire of the Holy Spirit and willing to go to the ends of the earth at the very most, but much more easily,
but again much more difficultly, to the person sitting next to you. The new
kingdom of God begins right here, right now – and every right here and right
now of today!
While
some of the heres and nows of today will remain challenging as we continue to
deal with the incessant reality of the coronavirus in our midst, calling upon
the Holy Spirit – who is a very real, active, energetic, palpable force within
us – and then following his lead – will always get us where we need to be, and interacting
the helpful, useful and charitable ways in which we are invited to interact for
our own health, and that of others – on both the physical and spiritual planes.
Come
Holy Spirit – teach us everything we need to know – to
make the real Jesus truly known among the peoples!
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