"Who is she that comes forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in battle array?" - Song of Songs 6:10
10:1-3 THE LEGION APOSTOLATE (pg. 59 – pg. 61) Dear sisters and brothers, peace to you all.
Let us first continue to pray for the pandemic. Time flies, half a year has already passed. We don’t know how long this will drag on until we can meet with each other again. I miss you all very much and hope everybody is doing well and stays healthy and prayerful. Today, let us read chapter ten of the handbook, which talks about the legion apostolate. During the reading, my eyes captured the sentence “the essential idea of apostleship is an intense interest in the welfare and the work of the Church, and such interest there can hardly be without some feeling of participation. Thus the apostolic organization is a mold which produces apostles.”
This makes me think, what is “the welfare and the work of the Church”? To make it simple, they are works of love. They are different from what we call social work. Despite the training, licensure, capabilities, and the type of work done in the professional social work arena, the fundamental difference is we have faith to give us strength and focus on the purpose of our work.
The first essential welfare and work of the Church is the Life and Dignity of the Human Person. The human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society. Each of the human person is God’s image and is precious and valuable in God’s eyes. No matter whether we are old or young, the color of our skin, we are family, community, and participation. Our blood all runs red and each one of us is not only sacred but also social. We all have a fundamental right to life and a right to those things required for human decency. And corresponding to these rights are duties and responsibilities--to one another, to our families, to the community, and to the larger society. We are one human family. At the core of the virtue of solidarity is the pursuit of justice and peace. Pope Paul VI taught us “if you want peace, work for justice.”
“Care for God’s Creation” is the core of the welfare and the work of the Church and is a requirement of our faith.
I’d like to share with you, we came home late Tuesday night because my son-in-law’s grandfather was at home in his last minutes. I was moved by his daughters’ comments: “Papa, not sure what kind of blessing I have, but I have you and mama, and you are the best parents in my life. You have taken care of the family with all your hearts….” There is nothing but love, appreciation, and sincerity found in that atmosphere. Later, I led everybody in the room to pray for God’s mercy and His will. I held his grandfather’s hand recited all four mysteries of the rosary quietly after the prayers. They are all Baptist except my son-in-law and my family there. Nevertheless, they all showed their appreciation without any hesitation of my prayers and recitations. I thank God for the special welfare and the work of the Church.
My dear sisters and brothers, “Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.” (Jn 13:20) I trust God and Our dear Mother Mary. Together with them we can be sure to bring God’s love to the needy, especially when we are doing charity in our faith.
May God bless all of us in His two loving hearts.
Dcn. George P.S. When you read this reflection, my son-in-law’s grandfather had peacefully gone back home. Please pray for the repose of his soul and may God bless and embrace him in His bosom.