Today's Gospel Reading (Luke 6,6-11)
Jesus went out into the hills to pray; and he spent the whole night
in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and
picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’
: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot,
Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
in prayer to God. When day came he summoned his disciples and
picked out twelve of them; he called them ‘apostles’
: Simon whom he called Peter, and his brother Andrew;
James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas,
James son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot,
Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot who became a traitor.
He then came down with them and stopped at a piece of level ground
where there was a large gathering of his disciples with a great crowd
of people from all parts of Judaea and from Jerusalem and from the
coastal region of Tyre and Sidon who had come to hear him and
to be cured of their diseases.
People tormented by unclean spirits were also cured, and everyone
in the crowd was trying to touch him because power came out of him
that cured them all.
The Church: the ministerial priesthood and the Hierarchy
Today, we remember Christ while praying all night before choosing
—from his disciples— the twelve Apostles.
They —who never cease to be the people of God—
will have a "mission within the mission" of the Church:
to nurture, to encourage and to sustain the sanctity of all the faithful.
Some are called by God to the "ministerial priesthood":
they are the "ordained faithful".
A power has been bestowed upon them;
but this is a "sacred power" to dispense the Bread
and to preach the Word: a power to serve.
They form the "Hierarchy", something which today sounds badly
because it is seen with worldly eyes.
In the Church the hierarchical element is not a privileged "status"
but a "functional element", whose radical aim is to serve our brothers.
"Ministry" exactly means service. The Pope’s title, precisely, is
"The Servant of the Servants of God".
—O Jesus, we request from You pastors with a heart like Yours.
You, Who came not to be served but to serve.
—from his disciples— the twelve Apostles.
They —who never cease to be the people of God—
will have a "mission within the mission" of the Church:
to nurture, to encourage and to sustain the sanctity of all the faithful.
Some are called by God to the "ministerial priesthood":
they are the "ordained faithful".
A power has been bestowed upon them;
but this is a "sacred power" to dispense the Bread
and to preach the Word: a power to serve.
They form the "Hierarchy", something which today sounds badly
because it is seen with worldly eyes.
In the Church the hierarchical element is not a privileged "status"
but a "functional element", whose radical aim is to serve our brothers.
"Ministry" exactly means service. The Pope’s title, precisely, is
"The Servant of the Servants of God".
—O Jesus, we request from You pastors with a heart like Yours.
You, Who came not to be served but to serve.
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