THE MYSTERY AND MINISTRY OF JESUS became the focus of my meditation as I read an article by the Most Rev. Arturo Bastes, DD, Chairman of the Ecclesiastical Commission on Biblical Apostolate of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The article entitled: “THE FULL UNDERSTANDING OF THE BIBLICAL APOSTOLATE” was an addendum to the POSTSYNODAL APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION “VERBUM DOMINI” by Pope Benedict XVI.
What caught my attention in this article is his observation that such activities as bible courses, bible seminars, bible sharing sessions, bible quizzes, bible drama, bible exhibits, bible Sundays, bible week, bible distributions, etc. are considered “luxurious extras” that are nice things to do if time permits.
What then is the essence of the Bible Apostolate? As I read through his article I zeroed in on what he stated as the MYSTERY and MINISTRY of JESUS. My reflections then are as follows:
The MYSTERY OF JESUS is GOD BECOMING MAN.
The MINISTRY OF JESUS is to LIVE IN THE MIDST OF MEN SO AS TO REVEAL GOD’S
LOVE FOR THEM AS HIS CHILDREN.
This Mystery of Jesus becoming Man is revealed in the Prologue of the Gospel of John which says: “And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us; and we have seen his Glory, the Glory of the only Son coming from the Father”.
The Ministry of Jesus to live in the midst of men is affirmed by Jesus when He said: ”Where two or three have gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20); and “I am with you always even to the end of the age” (Matt. 28:20).
The questions then that came to my mind are: Why did JESUS, the Word of God, become Man, and Why does He continue to live with men in this world?
These questions, I believe, were answered by Jesus Himself when He prayed to God, His Father, after the Last Supper as follows:
“May they all be one as you Father are in me and I am in you. May they be one in us; so the world may believe that you have sent me.” (Jn. 17:21)
“I have given them the Glory you have given me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. Thus they shall reach perfection in unity and the world shall know that you have sent me and I have loved them just as you loved me.” (Jn. 17:22)
“Righteous Father, the world has not known you but I know you, and these have known that you have sent me. As I revealed your Name to them, so will I continue to reveal it, so that the love with which you loved me may be in them and I also may be in them.” (Jn. 17:25-26).
To my mind then, Jesus became Man to reveal God’s love for men and show them how to love one another as children of God. It is through the force of love that men can break the “cycle of evil” in this world and thus become united.
In the recent Bible Congress of the Metropolitan See of Tuguegarao, which was held on March 4-5, 2011 at the Villa Domingo Renewal Center, Maddarulug, Solana, Cagayan, the Most Rev. Renato P. Mayugba, Auxiliary Bishop of Lingayen, Dagupan, and Chairman of Northern Luzon Biblical Apostolate, said: “Being a Christian is not a question of choice, but an encounter with an event, with the Person of the Risen Lord, Jesus Christ.” He then gave as an example the testimony of the great Apostle, St. Paul, who became the Great Missionary to the gentiles after his encounter with the Risen Christ on the road to Damascus.
I see, therefore, this Mystery of Christ and His Ministry as God’s plan to enable everyone in this world to encounter God, in the Person of Christ, and thus become ONE WITH HIM and WITH ONE’S FELLOWMEN.
by: Salvador 'Buddy' Cagurangan
March 13, 2011
