IF we truly have faith and love in
the Holy Eucharist, if
we are truly Eucharistic souls, then we cannot help but be intensely
and abidingly apostolic souls as well.
In fact, we need to be most zealous in our apostolate,
since it actually is a duty incumbent on all Christian believers to
have and to keep burning all throughout their lives, making use of all
the situations and circumstances we may find themselves in.
Everytime we hear Mass, receive Holy Communion or visit
the Blessed Sacrament, we should remember those final and most
heart-felt words of Christ to his apostles: “Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to the whole creation…” (Mk 16,15)
These words clearly indicate how Christ wants his work of
redemption to continue. This time it will be carried out as a joint
effort between him and us. While we are first of all the object of his
redemptive work, we also become the subject of such work with him.
That’s because Christ looks and treats us as he treats
himself, since we are the image and likeness of God, children of his.
His concerns and work become ours too.
But let’s always remember that this duty to do apostolate
can be done only if we are vitally united with Christ with a unity
that has its best form or highest degree here on earth in the Holy
Eucharist.
Without that unity that is akin to that of the branches to
the vine, we would just be on our own, alive and vibrant for a while,
propped by some highly perishable things, but sooner or later will
just collapse.
This commissioning of the apostles that is also applicable
to us reflects Christ’s burning desire that his work of redemption has
to go on till the end of time. His salvific work just cannot be made a
part of the past. It has to continue, for that in fact comprises the
ultimate goal for all of us, believers. We are not meant only to have
an earthly goal, but one that transcends time and space.
This is what the IEC is trying to show in stressing the
social dimensions of the Eucharist. It is about doing apostolate which
should come as an organic outgrowth of our spiritual life, our
Eucharistic life. If we don’t feel this impulse to do apostolate, we
can suspect that all our apparently fervent profession of faith and
love for the Eucharist is largely a sentimental affair, or just some
hot air.
Doing apostolate is the very concrete expression of how to
tackle the social dimensions of the Eucharist. It involves many
things. We need to be rooted in Christ through prayer, sacrifice,
development of virtues, recourse to the sacraments, study of the
doctrine, etc.
We need to come up with some daily personal apostolic plan
that should cover all the possibilities of doing apostolate, first of
all in our immediate environment and then radiating to farther and
wider circles. Of course, this has to consider our personal conditions
and circumstances.
Basically, the personal apostolate has to be grounded on
the spirit of true friendship and confidence. So, a lot of time has to
be spent getting directly in touch with friends, as well as developing
true social virtues to keep that friendship going—like affability,
openness, warmth, loyalty, etc. In other words, we should try to be
“all things to all men,” as St. Paul once said.
We have to be well versed with the doctrine of our faith,
going all the way to mastering the Church’s social doctrine, so
relevant in tackling the big issues of the day, so that our apostolate
is substantive and effective.
In our apostolic plan, we have to follow a certain order
and hierarchy of priorities, given the different considerations that
we have to make. While we have to make sure that our apostolate has a
universal orientation, we need to give due attention to the different
distinctions in human life—the spiritual and material, the eternal and
temporal, the sacred and mundane, the mainstream and marginalized.
It would be good that some continuing program of apostolic
formation be developed, sustained and improved by appropriate
entities. This is actually an urgent matter that has been taken for
granted for a long time already. It now demands immediate attention
and action.
Again, we should not forget that all the impulses we need
to pursue these objectives spring from our intimate contact with
Christ, especially in the Holy Eucharist. May the Eucharist inflame us
with apostolic zeal! We should feel deeply responsible for one
another.
we are truly Eucharistic souls, then we cannot help but be intensely
and abidingly apostolic souls as well.
In fact, we need to be most zealous in our apostolate,
since it actually is a duty incumbent on all Christian believers to
have and to keep burning all throughout their lives, making use of all
the situations and circumstances we may find themselves in.
Everytime we hear Mass, receive Holy Communion or visit
the Blessed Sacrament, we should remember those final and most
heart-felt words of Christ to his apostles: “Go into all the world and
preach the gospel to the whole creation…” (Mk 16,15)
These words clearly indicate how Christ wants his work of
redemption to continue. This time it will be carried out as a joint
effort between him and us. While we are first of all the object of his
redemptive work, we also become the subject of such work with him.
That’s because Christ looks and treats us as he treats
himself, since we are the image and likeness of God, children of his.
His concerns and work become ours too.
But let’s always remember that this duty to do apostolate
can be done only if we are vitally united with Christ with a unity
that has its best form or highest degree here on earth in the Holy
Eucharist.
Without that unity that is akin to that of the branches to
the vine, we would just be on our own, alive and vibrant for a while,
propped by some highly perishable things, but sooner or later will
just collapse.
This commissioning of the apostles that is also applicable
to us reflects Christ’s burning desire that his work of redemption has
to go on till the end of time. His salvific work just cannot be made a
part of the past. It has to continue, for that in fact comprises the
ultimate goal for all of us, believers. We are not meant only to have
an earthly goal, but one that transcends time and space.
This is what the IEC is trying to show in stressing the
social dimensions of the Eucharist. It is about doing apostolate which
should come as an organic outgrowth of our spiritual life, our
Eucharistic life. If we don’t feel this impulse to do apostolate, we
can suspect that all our apparently fervent profession of faith and
love for the Eucharist is largely a sentimental affair, or just some
hot air.
Doing apostolate is the very concrete expression of how to
tackle the social dimensions of the Eucharist. It involves many
things. We need to be rooted in Christ through prayer, sacrifice,
development of virtues, recourse to the sacraments, study of the
doctrine, etc.
We need to come up with some daily personal apostolic plan
that should cover all the possibilities of doing apostolate, first of
all in our immediate environment and then radiating to farther and
wider circles. Of course, this has to consider our personal conditions
and circumstances.
Basically, the personal apostolate has to be grounded on
the spirit of true friendship and confidence. So, a lot of time has to
be spent getting directly in touch with friends, as well as developing
true social virtues to keep that friendship going—like affability,
openness, warmth, loyalty, etc. In other words, we should try to be
“all things to all men,” as St. Paul once said.
We have to be well versed with the doctrine of our faith,
going all the way to mastering the Church’s social doctrine, so
relevant in tackling the big issues of the day, so that our apostolate
is substantive and effective.
In our apostolic plan, we have to follow a certain order
and hierarchy of priorities, given the different considerations that
we have to make. While we have to make sure that our apostolate has a
universal orientation, we need to give due attention to the different
distinctions in human life—the spiritual and material, the eternal and
temporal, the sacred and mundane, the mainstream and marginalized.
It would be good that some continuing program of apostolic
formation be developed, sustained and improved by appropriate
entities. This is actually an urgent matter that has been taken for
granted for a long time already. It now demands immediate attention
and action.
Again, we should not forget that all the impulses we need
to pursue these objectives spring from our intimate contact with
Christ, especially in the Holy Eucharist. May the Eucharist inflame us
with apostolic zeal! We should feel deeply responsible for one
another.
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