Delivered by Alice Budiman from the Parish of Salib Suci Cilincing in the Archdiocese of Jakarta, Indonesia. Romans 12: 5-16a; Rs psalm 131: 1.2.3; Luke 14: 15-24.
THE HOUSE OF GOD MUSTBE FULL
Our meditation todayhas the theme: The House of God Must Be Full. Today,the Church commemorates Saint Charles Borromeo. He came from a wealthy noblefamily and enjoyed high social standing as the nephew of Pope Pius IV. He washighly educated, becoming a lawyer, both civil and Church at the age of 21.Charles certainly had the potential to become a prominent and important figure.
But his life's pathled him to become a diligent, pious, and dignified servant of the Church, sothat until his death he was an Archbishop and Cardinal leading the Archdioceseof Milan. He worked diligently and humbly in all the tasks entrusted to him bythe Church. Within the Church, he became the patron saint of priests. Charlesgave up all desires and activities in the social and political world because ofhis great intellectual ability and influence, and followed God's invitation tobecome a servant of the Church as a shepherd of the people and a wise teacherof God's people.
God invites with theintention that all of His creations be saved. Why do people deliberatelydecline invitations to be saved? In a sense, we can understand that ourpractice of faith is sometimes incomplete and not serious. It is easy forpeople to say "yes" with their faith and membership in the Church.But in reality they do not come to strengthen unity among the faithful, to beactively involved in the Church activities, to sacrifice themselves for theirsuffering fellow-men, and offer themselves voluntarily in the service andmission of the Lord Jesus in the world.
We need to continueto believe that the Church and the Kingdom of God that the Lord Jesus hasentrusted to us, still need to be developed and perfected, and if necessary beable to rule the entire world. We are the ones who must fulfill ourselves inaccordance with the scriptures and teachings of the Church. The emphasis mustbe on the role of each person as believer, and not merely on any organization,institution or movement from outside.
About this, SaintPaul gives us an advice: if each of us makes use each of his personal gifts: asa preacher, office employee, teacher, farmer, businessman, servant and so on,and to be strengthened by the Christian spirituality, we can feel sure tofulfill the invitation to the kingdom of God. The principle is: none of us comeand join as an empty self. The gifts in every person should not remain in vain.
Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O God and mercyful Father, strengthen us to develop and make use of everygift in each one of us, so that we can build together the unity in the Churchand in this world. Hail Mary, full of grace ... In the name of the Father ...
