Bible Study: Acts 13, 13 to 25 and John
13, 16 to 20.
Going through the words of Jesus in
our Gospel passage this morning, you would notice how he makes use of
missionary vocabulary such as: SERVANT, MASTER, SEND, RECEIVE. By washing the
feet of his disciples, Jesus gave them an example of what mission is all about;
it is first of all realizing that you have been sent and then, bringing
yourself down to serve those to whom you were sent. It is being humble enough
to help people wash off their dirty sides by pouring the water of God’s words
on their feet.
Every Christian must see himself or
herself as a person on mission. Being servants of God, the service we owe God
is spreading the message. And this mission has no boundary. So long as you meet
people on a daily basis, so long as you can identify those aspects of the
people’s lives that are in clear contrary to what God demands, you can help to
wash their feet. This is exactly what we see the great Apostle Paul do in the
first reading. He came to a Jewish synagogue and fully aware that the people
knew about the Old Testament, he started his sermon from there and gradually he
made them realize that Jesus is the fulfilment of all the hopes and promises of
old.
The missionary task is not so much an
act of magic. It is precisely being able to speak directly into the minds and
hearts of people. It is meeting them where they are and showing them a way
forward. Today we celebrate the memorial of a great intellectual giant, a missionary
in his own ranking whose writings about God helped shape the face of Theology
and Philosophy. As an Abbot and later on a bishop, Anselm defended the faith despite
the challenges of excommunication which he suffered twice in the hands of the
secular kings who were trying to control the Church.
Anselm's chief achievement in philosophy was
the ontological argument for the existence of God put forth in his
"Proslogium". Starting from the notion that God is "that than
which nothing greater can be thought", he argues that what exists in
reality is greater than that which is only in the mind; wherefore, since
"God is that than which nothing greater can be thought", He exists in
reality.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus, I am your
servant. Use me every day to spread your word. Amen.
God bless you. Good morning. Be
Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you.
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