by Fr. Jeff Loseke
When Jesus established the apostolic ministry among His own Apostles, He commanded them to continue His mission of reconciliation in the world. We see this most clearly 
expressed by Jesus in His appearances to the Apostles after the Resurrection (e.g., Matthew 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21-23). Not only did He command them to preach “repentance, for the forgiveness of sins” (cf. Luke 24:47) but also He gave them a share in His very power so as to effect it. The Apostles, once filled with the Holy Spirit, went out and began building up the Church, the Body of Christ on earth.
Saint Paul reminds us that, “It was he [Christ] who gave some to be apostles… to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God…” (Ephesians 4:11-13). As Jesus’ disciples today, we have benefited from the witness of the Apostles and have been gathered together in virtue of our common baptism. Our mandate is clear: we must be active in “works of service.” Anyone who has heard the Gospel and has been taught how to live as a disciple cannot ignore the prompting of the Spirit to put his or her faith into action. Through our works of charity, we participate with the Apostles in transforming the world and communicating Christ’s presence wherever we go. As agents of Christ in the world, our approach to the world around us ought to be different than that of an unbeliever. The way we conduct our business, participate in our communities, and raise our families ought to show others how Christ Himself would do such things. Living more like Christ will draw us more and more together and overcome the divisions our sins have caused.
As Catholics, we recognize that the apostolic ministry itself has been shared with the Apostles and their successors, the Bishops today, through the laying on of hands and the invocation of the Holy Spirit (cf. 2 Timothy 1:1-2,6). We are confident that the Apostolic line has remained unbroken for 2,000 years and that Christ’s ministry remains present and active in His Church today. All of us who have benefited from the Apostolic ministry—especially through the preaching of the Word and the reception of the Sacraments—must take up our own part in the Church’s apostolate. Through our works of charity, we reveal to the world that Jesus Christ is indeed risen from the dead and that He desires to draw the whole world to Himself for salvation.
The Reverend Jeffery S. Loseke is a Priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha and is currently the pastor of St. Charl
es Borromeo Parish in Gretna, Nebraska. Ordained in 2000, Fr. Loseke holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome and is working to complete his doctoral degree (Ed.D.) in interdisciplinary leadership through Creighton University in Omaha. In addition to parish ministry, Fr. Loseke has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, taught high school theology and college-level philosophy, and has been a presenter for various missions, retreats, and diocesan formation days across the country.
Art: Saint Luke Catholic Church (Danville, Ohio) – tympanum painting – Immaculate Heart, Charity, 2016 (Wikimedia Commons)
not merely an emotion, a thought, or an ideal. Rather, the love of God is His very self. To stand before the love of God is to stand before Him who made us and who knows us better than we could ever know ourselves. Despite our complete inadequacy before God, we know that He desires that we open up ourselves in order to give ourselves to Him to the best of our abilities—even if it falls short. Love requires an openness that makes one vulnerable.
it is a feast that acknowledges humanity’s failure to love God fully in return. Without the Savior loving both us and the Father to the end, we would not be redeemed. Not only did Jesus willingly lay down His life for our salvation, but also He allowed His very heart to be pierced by a lance. With that final act of man’s rejection of the Father’s love, God could have poured out judgment upon the centurion and upon the whole world for the death of His Son. Instead, God willed that blood and water—symbols of the Eucharist and Baptism—should flow from Christ’s wounded Heart to bring healing and conversion to sinful humanity. No matter how many times humanity has offended and rejected God, He has always been ready to meet us with mercy and forgiveness.
In so doing, He gave all of His disciples into His Mother’s care and gave us Mary to be our Mother as well. As the one chosen by the Father to give birth to His Only-Begotten Son, Mary serves as a resplendent example of motherhood to all who are her children as well as to all who share the noble vocation of motherhood. Mary’s motherhood extends to us primarily because Jesus joined His disciples to Himself and made us members of His Body in the Church. Mary, as the Mother of Jesus, is the mother also of His very Body, the Church.
how to love God, how to love their neighbor, and how to constantly practice their faith. These exhortations always remind me that, because of our fallen human nature and the inclination to sin (i.e., concupiscence), the love to which God calls us must be learned and practiced over time. Learning such a love does not necessarily come easily. Indeed, the acquisition of virtue is often—if not always—a painful process.
es Borromeo Parish in Gretna, Nebraska. Ordained in 2000, Fr. Loseke holds a Licentiate in Sacred Theology (S.T.L.) from the Pontifical Athenaeum of St. Anselm in Rome and is working to complete his doctoral degree (Ed.D.) in interdisciplinary leadership through Creighton University in Omaha. In addition to parish ministry, Fr. Loseke has served as a chaplain in the U.S. Air Force, taught high school theology and college-level philosophy, and has been a presenter for various missions, retreats, and diocesan formation days across the country.
in our own identity as Christians, who, like Paul, never met Jesus in the flesh. There can be no doubt that Christianity would look very differently today—if it existed at all!—without the efforts of St. Paul and his companion missionaries. For this reason, the Church has always regarded St. Paul as a model for evangelization and as one of the principal architects of the Church. Saint Paul’s missionary strategy (i.e., establishing a communal identity among new believers) is precisely what the Catholic Church has always understood as “Sacred Tradition.” Saint Paul and the other Apostles modeled their style of leadership after that of Jesus Christ and passed it on in a living Tradition. Jesus gathered His closest followers around Himself and, for a period of about three years, established a way of life that would give them their identity as His Apostles. He did not hand them a book of instructions; rather, He enjoined upon them a way of life, a communal identity, a Sacred Tradition. They in turn passed it on to the next generation.
unrecognizable sweaty clump of weeds. There is a sacred element to the gift as a result, not of its quality, but of the depth of the child’s desire to please. That desire is evident in the exuberant bounce of the step, the excited thrust of the gift into her open palms, the devoted gaze and the joyful anticipation of mother’s reaction as she receives such a loving gesture.
fresh and so in love that even folding socks together was fun? Where even an accidental touch was electrifying and you called your love 100 times a day just to hear his voice?
e across a poem by Paula Zwenger that really speaks to the subject of sacrifice in a beautiful and inviting way – particularly as it pertains to the vocation of marriage. I wasted no time in asking if she would allow me to post it here. Thankfully she said yes – please enjoy her contribution below:
pelicansbreast.com 