By Beth DeCristofaro
Brothers and Sisters…you have approached Mount Zion and
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and countless angels in
festal gathering, and the assembly of the firstborn enrolled in heaven, and God
the judge of all, and the spirits of the just made perfect, and Jesus, the
mediator of a new covenant … (Hebrews 12:22-24)
Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send them out two
by two (Mark 6:7)
Piety
O God, Help me as I
ponder your mercy and sing your praises to the ends of the earth.
O God, Help us as our
parishes ponder your mercy and sing your praises to the ends of the earth.
O God, Help us as our
Women’s Team in Formation ponders your mercy and sings your praises to the ends
of the earth.
O God, Help us as our
Cursillo Community ponders your mercy and sings your praises to the ends of the
earth.
O God, Help us as our Nation ponders your mercy and sings your praises to the ends of the earth. (From Psalm 48)
Study
Paul’s image of
Heavenly Jerusalem is awash in a singing, praising, jubilant crowd of which, he
tells us, we are a part if we accept the path of Jesus. Jesus’s disciples are sent on their paths of
evangelization, healing and mercy as community – two by two. Just as God created the myriad life forms to
fill his earth, skies and seas, Jesus created his Church as community. Henri Nouwen says that the “people who belong
to the communion of saints, we know that anything of spiritual value is not the
result of individual accomplishment but the fruit of a communal life… True
spiritual knowledge belongs to the communion of saints.” (Henri Nouwen Society)
Action
One of the most
powerful actions which Church can undertake is to offer praise together and
pray for those in need. Next Wednesday,
February 11, 2015 is World Day of the Sick.
The Catholic Health Association asks us to pause at 1 p.m. to ponder
God’s mercy, sing God’s praises and remember all who are ill, aged, injured and
those who care for them. Read more, and
see prayers from the 100 days of prayer at http://www.chausa.org/wdos/default.html.
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