He [Jesus] said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest…” (Luke 10:2)

Do you remember what happened at your Baptism? After the priest/deacon baptized you by saying “I baptize you ‘In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit’”, you were configured to Christ. Baptism seals the Christian with the indelible spiritual mark (character) of his/her belonging to Christ. One of the beautiful prayers which we often ignore is called the Ephphetha Prayer over Ears and Mouth. The clergy making the sign of the cross over your ear and mouth saying, “The Lord Jesus made the deaf hear and the dumb speak. May he soon touch your ears to receive his word, and your mouth to proclaim his faith, to the praise and glory of God the Father.” At Baptism we are sent into the world to glorify God by our life. You do this by hearing, receiving, speaking, and proclaiming the Word of God. As St Jerome insisted “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!”

Do you HEAR the Word of God?
Are you SPEAKing God’s Word?
How do you RECEIVE God’s Word?
Do you PROCLAIM God’s Word in your life by what you say and do?
What is your favorite Bible verses?

The Word of God is so rich and powerful. I invite you to choose one word or phrase from the Bible, taking small amounts at a time and meditating on it throughout the day. For example, John 14:27 said, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.” What word resonates in your heart, when you read it over and over? Receive and proclaim it.

Let us join the workforce in proclaiming the Kingdom of God by asking your friends and your loved ones if they have their favorite Bible verses. Share with them yours. That is how spreading the Good News works in one day at a time!

Dear Jesus, help me to spread your fragrance wherever I go. Flood my soul with your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that my life may only be a radiance of yours. Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus! Stay with me and then I will begin to shine as you shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from you; none of it will be mine. It will be you, shining on others through me. Let me thus praise you in the way which you love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach you without preaching, not by words but by example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what I do, the evident fullness of the love my heart bears for you.  Amen. -  (by Cardinal John Henry Newman  (1901-1990)-Recited daily  after Communion, by Mother Teresa of Calcutta and her Sisters of Charity)

Peace in Christ,
Father Vincent-Vuong Nguyen