Keeping Your Word
theophilus May 26th, 2009
If you are a man of honor and integrity (and most men are), you want to keep your word to others. You want to have the reputation of getting the job done and being dependable; whether it’s your family, friends, community or job. You don’t want to let others down.
But do you take the same attitude with Christ? He has a plan for each of us. He asks something of each of us every single day. As a member of his body, we are called upon daily by him to do something, big or small, to help build his kingdom.
Yesterday for Memorial Day Mass, our priest talked about all of us being “Soldiers of Christ.” He spoke about each of us having a duty to Christ to do his will; to stand up and join the battle.
Ask yourself these questions. Do you strive to do your duty as a treasured son of God? Do you strive to do his will? Do you strive to keep your word to him in living your life? Do you put your body, heart and soul at his disposition?
Today’s first reading is about a man who answered these questions with a resounding affirmative. In Acts 20, St. Paul is giving one last sermon to the Ephesians. He concludes by stating – “Yet I consider life of no importance to me, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to bear witness to the Gospel of God’s grace. . . . And so I solemnly declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the entire plan of God.”
There you have it. St. Paul had no regrets; he knew he had done what he was called by Christ to do.
How about today’s Gospel from John 17. Here we have Jesus praying to our Father in heaven – “I revealed your name to those whom you gave me out of the world. They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.”
Talk about a great performance review - “They have kept your word.” His apostles and disciples had answered the questions the same as St. Paul.
How about today’s Saint of the Day – St. Philip Neri. He lived in 16th Century Italy at the height of the Reformation and the start of the Counter-Reformation, when Catholic faith and devotion were rapidly declining and in need of someone to help reverse the plunge into the abyss. St. Philip responded to Christ’s call as well by doing great things to reinvigorate the faithful throughout Italy, most particularly in Rome. He enflamed the laity and fostered a great love among all for the Blessed Sacrament.
St. Paul; the Apostles; the first disciples; St. Philip Neri – all became worthy Soliders of Christ. They kept God’s word and fulfilled their duty to Christ. They gave their lives to be used according to the Lord’s will and then, more importantly, kept their word to him.
Can the same be said of us?
