And so he sent them off. Each pair went in a specific direction. They were anxious and uncertain.
Faith, after all, does not obliterate anxiety.
I wonder if they had the slightest intuition that they were the first heralds of the most significant force in history.
In their hesitant footsteps there would follow other concerned men and women and with them, a new set of values which in their best context, would challenge and enrich the world for generations to come.
The process continues. Generations have come and gone. Generations that have witnessed a great deal of suffering and evil, but also much that is good and beneficial. There is no way of estimating the positive impact of authentic Christianity on human history any more than one can accurately measure the negative effects of scandals.
But it is safe to say that the world has never seen an instrument for good that compares to the person, words and deeds of Jesus as expressed and lived through his church.
And yet, more and more Baptized Catholics, especially in the more developed nations of the world,are leaving the Church and doing so in significant numbers.
Many of them are quick to assure us that their faith in Jesus and in the Gospel is undiminished.
But I ask you ...distanced from Church and sacrament, away from community and liturgy, what will become of them and their descendants?
Indeed, what will become of liturgy and community? Who will teach? Who will serve?
What is going on?
There are many negative forces at work within our society in general, not to mention within every level of our church.
Most of us have our own favourite theories on this matter.
If we all got together, called a meeting and asked Jesus to be our guest speaker, would he tell us to cut off the right wing as well as the left?
Would he present us with a new Catechism and demand that we follow it in detail regardless of the circumstances or be left to some sad fate.
NO! He would come up to the podium and rest his pierced hands on either side of the microphone. He would smile at each one of us and then he would say PEACE be with you!
Fear not, I am with you and will remain with you until the end of time.
Love one-another as I have always loved you.
Do not command and enforce but rather convince and be compassionate.
Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.
And then he would bless us and be gone from our sight.
Believe in the work of the Holy Spirit ...the Church has been through darker times than these.
Let your voice be heard by others. Let your prayers be heard by God, and they, will, if necessary, move mountains.
