PRAISED BE JESUS, MARY, AND
JOSEPH!
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6 million people during the Papal Mass at the Luneta
January 18, 2015 |
A week ago, 6 million people
gathered at the Luneta for the Mass offered by Pope Francis. In spite of the
bad weather, so many people came and the gathering broke the record of the
World Youth Day with Pope John Paul II in the same place 20 years ago. This
huge gathering is itself a manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth and in
today’s gospel, we are shown where it all began. It began when Jesus walked by
the shores of the Sea of Galilee and invited Peter, Andrew, James and John:
“Come after me, I will make you fishers of men.” The Lord Jesus began building
his Kingdom on earth by calling 4 men to follow him, that is, to be his
disciples.
Jesus began by preaching: “This
is the time of fulfillment. The Kingdom of God is at hand.” In fact, these
words summarize the entire Gospel that the Lord was sent to preach to the poor.
He was sent to proclaim the Kingdom of God. What is the Kingdom of God? The
Catechism tells us: “”To carry out the
will of the Father, Christ inaugurated the kingdom of heaven on earth. Now the
Father’s will is to ‘raise up men to share in his own divine life.’ He does
this by gathering men around his Son Jesus Christ. This gathering is the
Church, ‘on earth, the seed and beginning of that Kingdom.’” (CCC, 541.) When
the 4 men heard the summons of Christ and left everything to follow him, they
were actually gathered by the Father around Jesus…for the Lord himself said,
“No one can come to me unless the Father draws him.” Here we see the beginnings
of the Church, the beginnings of the Kingdom of God on earth. And looking back
at that immense crowd that gathered in the Luneta, we have witnessed how the
Kingdom of God, the Church, has indeed grown. From an initial calling of 4 men,
the Father has gathered around his Son billions of people. The Kingdom of God
is indeed like a mustard seed that is the smallest of all seeds and yet, it
grows to be the biggest of plants and is able to provide shelter to all
creatures.
What happened last Sunday was not
simply a huge gathering around the Pope. In reality, it was an immense
gathering of people around Jesus. Some people may have missed it but it was
Jesus, and not the Pope, who was at the center of the gathering. The Pope and
all of us were all gathered around the Altar upon which the Body and Blood of
Jesus was offered to the Father. Indeed,
Jesus was at the center of that gathering: “Christ stands at the heart of this
gathering of men into the ‘family of God.’” (CCC, 542.) And that was what we
were last Sunday, and that is what we are now as we gather around the Altar of
the Lord. Our gathering is the “family of God.” The Church is the Family of
God. Let us not forget this: the Church is the Family of God…the Family to
which we belong. “Jesus calls all people to come together around him…Into this
union with Christ all men are called.” (CCC, 542.)
Sunday after Sunday, the Lord
Jesus calls all men, all of us, to gather together around him. He summons us,
as he did to Peter and Andrew, to James and John. And imitating the 1st
disciples, upon hearing his summons, we must leave everything to follow him. “To
gain his Kingdom, one must give everything. Words are not enough, deeds are
required.” (CCC, 546.) To be part of this gathering, we have to leave behind
our usual preoccupations, our usual concerns. We have to drop everything in
order to be with the Lord. We leave everything behind to come here and gather
around Jesus because we recognize that only in him is found life everlasting.
As St. Paul says in the 2nd reading: “The world in its present form
is passing away.” And St. Peter tells our Lord: “Lord to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life…and we have come to believe that you are the
Holy One of God.”
Jesus, I trust in you! O Mary
conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Lord,