Kia tau te rangimarie ki a koutou
I recently celebrated Mass for the Focolare Community. 350 Focolare members from all over Oceania had gathered at El Rancho for their Mariapolis for five days.
It was a wonderful day to reflect of our Baptism and on our call to be “Mission.” This year throughout the diocese I hope that we can all reflect on what our Baptism means and that it calls us to become more and more aware of the fact that we are all charged and privileged to be Missionaries.
Remember these words of Jesus addressed to all of us: “Go, therefore, make disciples of all the nations; baptise them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28: 19). We will never do that unless we are deeply aware that our Baptism makes us “beloved daughters and sons of God.”
At his Baptism “all the love” of the Father rested on Jesus. “All the love” of God rests on us, His beloved sons and daughters. Just as God’s favour rests on us, our response is to rest in the intimacy of God and to know that God loves us beyond measure. That fact should influence all we do in our families, schools, colleges and parish communities.
When we are aware of how much God loves us it then affects the way we relate to others and the way we think about what we can do in our communities. We live for others, become more aware of their needs and not just our own; we think of the wider Church and the needs of the whole parish and diocese and the wider society we live in, and not just our own community.
This year, reflect on what your Baptism has done for you, keep your eyes on God who loves you, just as God cannot help but keep eyes on us, smiling and loving us without measure. This year choose to be marinated, intoxicated in the fullness of God. With every blessing for 2020.
Naku Noa,
+John