29th April 2021.
Memorial of St Catherine of Siena.
EVERY CHRISTIAN IS AN AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST
Dear brothers and sisters, today we are called to be ambassadors of Christ through Faith. That means announcing the good news of Jesus by living a life of love and service to others. St Paul, the Apostles and St Catherine of Siena whom we celebrate today, are good examples of this kind of life. Through their lives they touched and changed other people. We are called to embrace Jesus as our model who came to serve and not to be served.
By washing the disciple’s feet, Jesus expressed his love, affection, and loyalty to those who were his own, even to the one he knew they would betray and deny him, he showed them love and care. He loved them to the end and proved his faithfulness to them even to death on the cross.
The first reading talks of the testimony of St. Paul as he preached to the Jewish people in diaspora in Antioch in Pisidia. He was asked by the synagogue officials to give words of encouragement to the people assembled there on the Sabbath. He spoke of how God had saved His people from harm and destruction when He rescued them from their slavery in the land of Egypt.
He reminded all the people of the generous love by which God took their ancestors out of the land of their slavery and led them into the promised land. With great zeal and courage, Paul spoke of how God sent His Saviour into the world to recall the sinful mankind to repentance.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we listen to the word of God, we are reminded of our calling and obligation to be witnesses for the truth of Our Lord. To be His exemplary disciples and followers such that by our lives and actions, by our words and dedication, our good role model and deeds, we may inspire many others like what St. Paul and the other Apostles, the saints and many holy martyrs did with their own lives and throughout their respective ministries.
Today therefore, we look upon the great example showed by St Catherine of Siena. Her life and dedication to God, inspired so many people of her time and beyond. She was renowned for her great piety and dedication to the Lord, that since her youth she committed herself to the Lord, opposing the efforts made to marry her to a widower. Later on, after constant struggle and determination, through prayer and faith eventually she managed to enter into life consecrated to God.
Dear friends, to accept Jesus is to accept the Father who sent him. Again, to accept Jesus is to accept his messengers. Hence, the great honor and responsibility of every Christian is to stand in the world for Jesus Christ. As his disciples we should speak and act on his behalf.
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