Moment With Betty

 Defining Apostolate Mission, we can summarily say that it is about spreading a very important religious assignment, doctrine or the good news to the world. Jesus commanded His disciples to continue His work throughout the word after Him and this same assignment has been handed over to us as Christians to continue with, so that generation yet unborn will come to know about the word of God. In summary, the apostolate mission is to Christianize the world (Matt. 28: 19 – 20) when He said “Go, then, to all peoples everywhere and make them my disciples: baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirt, and teach them to obey everything l have commanded you.” Therefore, the mission of the catholic church and Christians, are to spread to word of God and help those in need and live the bible as examples to all.

Looking at some examples in the bible, we will find those who truly carried out the apostolate mission. In (John 1:43-51), we saw the call of Philip when Jesus Christ simply said to Phillip when He found him, “Come with me” and Phillip found Nathaniel, told him about Jesus Christ, the Messiah whom Moses wrote about and what did Nathaniel say, “Can anything good come from Nazareth? but Phillip replied, “come and see”. Again in John 4:39-49, we saw the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman who because of her encounter with Jesus, many Samaritans came to believe in Jesus. Apostolate mission is not an easy task but with prayer and perseverance, we will accomplish our goal.

Our Apostolate should be an overflow of our life in Christ just as the early Christians were recognized and named as followers of Christ in deed because they mirrored the life Christ.

They proclaimed the word of God, they practiced charity and they transmitted the faith to all and sundry and so, they were called Christians (Acts 11).

We are therefore charged to love God, submit to His will and show the love we have for our neighbor by inviting them to come and see in order to experience what we have and join in the work of God to Christianize the earth. We must be truthful about our interior life and walk the talk so that we can be like Nathaniel whom Our Lord described as a real Israelite who has nothing false in him. (John 1:47).

 Jesus is calling you today as lay apostolate to be a disciple with a mission. The church needs you, your enthusiasm your creativity and the joy that is so typical of you for the dissemination of the word of God or doctrine.  Remember, that apostolate is about having that constant concern for souls, not giving up on anybody, trusting that God wants us to love everyone just as He loves us. It is also about showing gratitude to God for who we are now and inv­­iting others to come and see.

We are all familiar with the saying that charity begins at home therefore, we must start our apostolate from our homes, with our family, living the faith and transmitting it with our example. We must start early to teach our children, wards and family members about the virtues of piety, sincerity, generosity, justice. It is also good to teach them about the value of work, how to be orderly in whatever we do, to pray and avoid procrastination because it leads to laziness. Part of our apostolate is also to encourage get-togethers- family devotions, talks on sacraments, trinity, death, mortification, the creed, sex, gender, teachings of the church and consciously forming a proper conscience in our children and young people so that we can help them choose rightly and to do good.

Furrow 845 tells us thus, “Some people bring children into the world for their own benefit, to serve their own purposes, out of selfishness, they forget that children are wonderful gifts from God for which they will have to render a very special account for, do not be offended if I say that having offspring just to continue the species is something that animals can do too”

Just as we carry out our apostolate mission in the family, we are expected to do same in our workplace. This entails living charity, showing empathy, cheerfulness, acknowledging the people around us with their moods, seeing their faults in you too, showing concern and being humane in adhering to policies of our organization or company. Borrowing a leaf from The way- points 173 and 799 and Furrow – point 930, apostolate mission it’s about radiating the Christian formation that you have, being authentic, living unity of life. Knowing that God has sought you out in the practice of your profession just as He found Peter, Andrew, James and John and also that He wants the light that shone on His apostles, to shine on you also. Concentrate on whatever task you have chosen and don’t complain about that of others like in the story of Mary and Martha when Jesus visited them and their brother Lazarus. (Luke 10: 38-41).

Do not be selfish, bring your friends to God so that they can experience what you are enjoying by knowing God. Engage in apostolate of friendship, give your friend your time which shows sign of love. Call them from time to time and visit them when they are sick or need your companion. Furrow points 941 and 731 respectively say, “Some people know nothing about God because no one has talked to them about Him in such a way that they can understand”,” You cannot just be passive, you have to become a real friend of your friends by helping them, first with the example of your behavior and then with your advice and with the influence that a close friendship provides” Be careful not to think that you know it all and can do everything, it is God’s love and forgiveness that has taken you thus far so, be grateful and appreciative of His mercy.

Finally, to carry out apostolate mission as l said earlier is not an easy task, you have to be empowered to do the work successfully. You need to be ready to:

• Study and be formed
• Be ready to attend the means of formation.
• Seek to know Christ :–  read the gospel passages always and be prayerful because you can only give what you have.
• Make out time and set some apostolic goals.
• Learn to recognize opportunities and take good advantage of them. It is our Christian duty to get involve in other people’s life-by helping them to grow spiritually with love, keeping in mind that it is God that converts.
• Always ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

May God imbue us with the wisdom and strength we require to carry out this mission, Amen.