Like Jesus, Paul, in the liturgy’s first reading, Acts 20:
17-27, is looking back on his life as well and is about to go to Jerusalem,
where, like Jesus, he faces hardships and imprisonment." He says to us: "I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God's grace.”
You, like Paul and Jesus,
have been given a task to do here on earth within a vocational call: married, single, a member of a religious community or as a diocesan priest.
Both Paul and Jesus were called to do the work the Father gave Him to do
as single persons. Most of the apostles were given a work to do as married men but also as apostles. In which vocation is God calling you "to bear witness to the Gospel of God's grace"?
Both Paul and Jesus learned obedience from what they
suffered (cf. Hebrews 5:8). Like Paul and Jesus, as we bring our wills into
harmony with God’s will for us, as we give glory to God by the Gospel values we embrace, we will meet hardship, be mocked and
ridiculed. We will, from time to time, be rejected on account of our beliefs, our choices, or confidence in what the
Lord God, what Christ Jesus, is asking of us through the Spirit. Some persons are likely not to understand our choices and may object loudly while others may be supportive.
When you are ridiculed, made fun of, questioned about the vocation in life that is right for
you, the partner in life that is right for you,
the religious community that is right for you; yes, the career choice that is right for you, do you run away from that choice so as not to
rock the boat, to avoid suffering?
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