Jesus has been teaching, and has amassed a crowd of five
thousand men, plus their families. They
have been enthralled with His Word for hours.
“When it grew late,” the disciples propose that Jesus break up the
meeting and “send them away into the surrounding countryside and villages and
buy themselves something to eat.” Our Lord
has a better idea: “You give them something to eat.” This is so typical of our Lord. It sounds like a joke. But it isn’t.
Jesus has been undoing all of the curses of Eden, one by
one. He casts out demons. He drives out sicknesses and raises the dead. And here, he attacks the curse of scarcity:
the ground itself producing “thorns and thistles” and being stingy with its
fruits, and Adam’s curse: “by the sweat of your face you shall eat bread.” In the post-Eden world, demand outpaces
supply. Food is scarce. We have to buy it. It is a matter of labor and trade. On this day, as thousands hear the Word of
God, there are no trees bearing fruit effortlessly as in the garden. The people must trade their labor for bread,
and they must go away from hearing the Word of God in order to feed
themselves.
But Jesus came to return us to paradise.
And He gives us a glimpse into a post-scarcity world to come, one where
there is no more need to trade one’s sweat for the stubborn fruits of the
earth, mixing in even more labor to make a little bit of bread, just to stave
off starvation and death for another day.
That is not how God made us to live.
Jesus has a better idea than sending them away to purchase bread: “You
give them something to eat,” He says to His disciples. For in a post-scarcity world, bread will be
so common that it will not be a commodity of trade. The disciples suggest that the people “buy.” Jesus suggests that the disciples “give.”
The disciples are dumbfounded. There is so little for so many. And, of course, our Lord miraculously
multiplies the loaves and fishes, feeds the multitudes, and “they all ate and
were satisfied.” In the post-scarcity
world, satisfaction replaces starvation.
And not only were their needs met, there were “twelve baskets” of
leftovers – one for each of the Twelve. For
their ministry will be to likewise distribute the Bread of Life, including the Meal
that began at the Last Supper: the body and blood of Jesus, that they and their
successors will miraculously multiply for multitudes numbering in the billions
across centuries of time.
For the bread that Jesus gives “for the life of the world
is [His] flesh” (John 6:51). The kingdom
Jesus establishes has no starvation, only satisfaction, no “thorns and thistles”
(Gen 3:18) but only God’s providence, no sickness and no death (Gen 3:19), but
only everlasting life, and no serpent to deceive us with “Did God actually say?”
(Gen 3:1), but only the Word Himself, delivering on His promises, rolling back
the curses of Eden, and supplying us with superabundance, as His gifts to us
never run out. There are always twelve
baskets of His grace left, no matter how much grace we have received.
Multitudes today continue to need the Word of God. For this is still a “desolate place,” and
indeed, “the hour is late.” People continue
to struggle with sin, death, and the devil, with scarcity and sickness, and
with their need to be fed. Jesus
continues to say to His church today, “You give them something to eat.” This is indeed typical of our Lord. It sounds like a joke. But it isn’t.
Thanks be to God!
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
It’s easy to forget how much opposition our Lord had
during His three-year ministry that changed the world. The demons opposed Him. The local government opposed Him. The Imperial government opposed Him. The Jewish religious authorities of every
sect opposed Him. One of His disciples
betrayed Him. The leader of His
disciples denied Him. At His trial, all
of the to-be apostles fled from Him. Upon
hearing Him say that His followers must eat His flesh and drink His blood, many
of His disciples abandoned Him. On the
cross, Jesus would pray Psalm 22: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” And at this early phase of our Lord’s
ministry, even as the multitudes come to be healed, His own family said, “He is
out of His mind.”
Our Lord’s miraculous works were so open and numerous
that nobody could deny them. Nobody
could say that these were magic tricks or people acting like they have been
healed – as we see with modern-day religious frauds and showmen who use tricks
like hidden earphones with people feeding the so-called “faith healer”
information, and putting healthy people in wheelchairs so as to order them to
walk around.
Jesus did so many verifiable miracles that His enemies
could only claim that He was a sorcerer, using the demons to effect miracles. Jesus points out the obvious: “How can Satan
cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided
against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.”
The works of Jesus are forgiving sins, liberating people from bondage to
evil spirits, healing people of diseases, and even raising the dead. These are acts of God, not of the devil. And here, Jesus warns against such hardness
of heart that would call God evil: “Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin.”
In spite of the opposition of the entire fallen world and
of the fallen angels in the world unseen – Jesus doubles down and continues His
ministry. He is not concerned with
majorities, with numbers, with worldly influence. He casts the seeds of the Good News like the
sower in His own parable: announcing the kingdom, exorcising demons, healing
the sick, raising the dead, and most importantly of all, atoning for the sins
of the world at the cross. For many of
those who rejected Him will come to Him.
Some members of the local government, the Jewish council, will emerge as
His disciples. In time, the Imperial
government will become Christian. Nearly
all of the Jewish sects will disappear, while the church will be established
the world over. Eleven disciples will
come back to Him, will be ordained, and sent to evangelize the world. Judas will be replaced. And St. Paul will be added to the number of
the apostles. Billions of people will
eat His flesh and drink His blood. And He,
the crucified one, was vindicated by rising from the dead. And “We preach Christ crucified” (1 Cor 1:23)
to this day.
His own family would no longer claim that He had lost His
mind. His mother, who saw Him crucified,
would be taken care of by John the apostle in Ephesus. Our Lord’s kinsman James would become the
first bishop of Jerusalem. The demons
will continue to oppose Him, but helpless in their desire to defeat Him. And the family of Jesus has been expanded to
include “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from
all tribes and peoples and languages,” redeemed by His blood, confessing Him as
Lord, being rescued from not only soul-destroying unbelief, but also from the
malice of demons and from the ravages of sin, including death. We, the church, confessors of Jesus, are His
family. He has not lost His mind, but
has rather won forgiveness, life, and salvation for us by His blood. Thanks be to God!
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
Nearly fifty years ago, the popular culture was introduced to a rare and horrific mental illness that was, at the time, called Multiple Personality Disorder. The 1976 movie Sybil was apparently based on a true story of a young woman academician who suffered from this ailment, today called Disassociative Identity Disorder. She had sixteen distinct personalities, and could not live an ordinary life until she was treated.
This award-winning made-for-TV movie (based on the book by the same name) starred Sally Fields, and made quite a splash in the culture of the time. Debates rage over how much of the novel/movie is true, but the disorder is very real. Since that time, we haven't heard much about this ailment.
Formerly known as multiple personality disorder, this disorder involves "switching" to other identities. You may feel as if you have two or more people talking or living inside your head. You may feel like you're possessed by other identities.
Each identity may have a unique name, personal history and features. These identities sometimes include differences in voice, gender, mannerisms and even such physical qualities as the need for eyeglasses. There also are differences in how familiar each identity is with the others. Dissociative identity disorder usually also includes bouts of amnesia and often includes times of confused wandering.
And this is a mental illness brought on by trauma:
Sometimes dissociative disorder symptoms occur in a crisis with severe or impulsive behavior. People with these symptoms need care more urgently and in an emergency department at a hospital when safety becomes a concern.
If you or a loved one has less urgent symptoms that may be a dissociative disorder, contact your doctor or other health care professional for help.
Moreover,
Dissociative disorders usually arise as a reaction to shocking, distressing or painful events and help push away difficult memories. Symptoms depend in part on the type of dissociative disorder and can range from memory loss to disconnected identities.
Symptoms include "a blurred sense of your own identity" and "mental health problems, such as depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts and behaviors," again, according to the Mayo Clinic. Causes, again according to the Mayo clinic, include traumatic events in childhood, such as sexual abuse:
Dissociative disorders usually start as a way to cope with shocking, distressing or painful events. The disorders most often form in children who go through long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse. Less often, the disorders form in children who've lived in a home where they went through frightening times or they never knew what to expect. The stress of war or natural disasters also can bring on dissociative disorders. You're at greatest risk of having a dissociative disorder if you've had long-term physical, sexual or emotional abuse during childhood.
Other shocking, distressing or painful events also may cause dissociative disorders to arise. These may include war, natural disasters, kidnapping, torture, extensive early-life medical procedures or other events.
Per the Mayo Clinic, this disorder spawns other symptoms, including: "depression and anxiety," "problems with sexual function," "personality disorders," self-injury or high-risk behavior," and "suicidal thoughts and behavior."
Obviously, this is purely a clinical, psychological explanation for this disorder. Christians who believe in the supernatural certainly see the possibility of an underlying spiritual cause in such cases. Whether any individual is being tormented and victimized by demons is not something that secular mental health professionals are qualified to address. For this article, my goal is to show how mainstream mental health professionals describe such things, and how mainstream journalists typically accommodate one person with multiple personae.
Moreover, the existence of this disorder highlights the importance of protecting children from predators, from being sexualized, and from exposure to people with sexual abnormalities and disorders. Again, per the Mayo Clinic:
Children who are physically, emotionally or sexually abused are at increased risk of developing mental health conditions, such as dissociative disorders. If stress or other personal issues are affecting the way you treat your child, seek help.
While we don't hear much about this rare disorder, we are seeing a surge in people presenting themselves in different personae, people who seem to have been traumatized and suffer sexual confusion, who are also plagued by suicidal ideation. There is an increasing social reluctance to see this kind of sexual identity and personality confusion (and even multiplicity) as a malady to be treated, as it is, instead being normalized. There is increasing mainstream pressure to give actual recognition to multiple personalities, even using multiple names and pronouns for the same person.
By way of example, a recent article in the free New Orleans newspaper The Gambit casually refers to a man by different personalities and genders. In the February 12, 2024 piece called "A Moment Like This: The Big Gay Baby variety shows are a space to heal your inner child," author Kaylee Poche refers to the same man as both "Maxwell, who is trans" by the plural neuter pronoun "they," as well as "April May" by the singular feminine pronoun "she."
For example:
"Maxwell took to the stage as their drag persona April May at the next Big Gay Baby show to perform a mashup of emotional, nostalgic songs."
"Maxwell had long dreamed of performing in drag. They loved singing in their bedroom as a child... and did musical theater in their youth, but they hadn't found the right outlet to get back on stage as an adult." Emphasis added.
The article is peppered with "they say," when quoting Maxwell. It creates a sense of plurality. One has to depend on context to determine whether the "they" is singular or plural. And in fact, there is a plurality to Maxwell's personalities.
On stage, he is "April May." And the author of this article, when speaking of Maxwell in that context, switches pronouns to "she" - as if Maxwell has multiple personalities instead of his simply acting on stage and playing a role. The author describes the role as an actual personality.
For example:
"The crescendo synched with an epic costume change as she ripped off her black gown to reveal a pink tulle dress underneath."
"As April May ended her performance, a trans flag with the words 'PROTECT TRANS KIDS' projected onto the screen behind her, and she put her fist into the air." Emphasis added.
There is video footage of Maxwell speaking - in drag - before the Louisiana Legislature - along with some other activists opposing a bill to prevent certain sexual procedures being implemented on minor children. One of these activists describes parents who refuse such procedures to their own children as "bigots" who should have no say in their children's mental and physical health, not to mention their education. It is apparent that these activists do not have children of their own, and they feel entitled to have access to children who are not their own. We would do well to vet teachers to make sure that they are mentally and sexually healthy, that they respect parental rights and the law, they keep proper boundaries with children, and are not simply acting out something on children that was acted out on them in their own youthful mental and sexual development.
The bill was vetoed by the (former) governor of Louisiana, a Democrat, and the veto was overridden.
The current penchant for legitimizing - and even compelling - the use of pronouns (some made up, some of mixed gender and number) to accommodate personalities, even using plural pronouns and multiple names/identities, may be covering up genuine cases of Disassociative Personality Disorder. And not only that, giving such traumatized people (perhaps even sexually traumatized people) access to children - even in their desire to have private access without parental oversight or even consent - should raise red flags.
Often those who are pushing for teachers talking about sexuality with even very young children in public schools - even against the wishes of the parents - try to diffuse the matter by pointing out that "drag" is a benign comedic entertainment genre of the type one sees in light Hollywood comedies and British humor. But this is different. This is not comedy. This is not an actor performing on stage. What we see with Maxwell is two distinct personalities with two distinct names and pronouns. He doesn't dress up as a woman on stage for laughs. He is serious, even to the point of appearing as he does, in a blonde wig and blue face paint - to testify before the Legislature. We see a reporter writing about him using a bifurcated pronoun scheme based on which personality he is presenting at a given time. We see a man doing all of these things testifying in favor of allowing professionals to permanently change the physical bodies of children's sexuality by means of surgery and hormones, and for teachers to speak to children about sexual matters - and to do so over the objections of the parents.
Of course, I have no idea whether Maxwell and the other specific people testifying against this bill were sexually abused as children, or if they suffer with disassociative disorders, but it would certainly be consistent with what we read in the Mayo Clinic article. It is not uncommon to hear people who identify as non-heterosexual to describe being sexually abused as children.
It is up to those who are healthy - mentally and sexually - to protect children from physical, psychological, and sexual abuse and trauma, and to find a way to generationally reduce the number of people impacted by childhood abuse. All people within the healthy bell curve have the duty to protect the most vulnerable in our society. And if people like Maxwell truly want to lead a life unencumbered by the desire to live with multiple personae, to be able to raise healthy and well-adjusted children of his own, there may be a path forward. That is up to him.
But neither he, nor any other activist who insists on being addressed in alternate personae, has the right to have access to children against the wishes of their parents. And mental health professionals, doctors, counselors, and others should give serious consideration to the possibility that we are seeing pathological multiple personalities - and speaking to it - instead of just taking the politically-correct path that helps no-one.
We have turned a new page on the calendar.We went from yesterday’s Mardi Gras to today’s
Ash Wednesday.We went from the
lingering green of the Epiphany season to the black of today and the purple of
the Lenten season.And we begin this
forty-day penitential season with a reminder of our own death.
All calendars include changing seasons: winter and
summer, planting and harvesting, and the annual cycle of nature.But our spiritual lives are also based on a
cycle of timeAs King Solomon reminds
us, “To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under
heaven.”And all peoples around the
world have times of feasting and times of fasting, times of plenty, and times
of want, times to celebrate, and times to reflect.
“Remember, O man.”
God’s people of the Old Testament had a different
calendar than we have today, dear friends, but they also had times of feasting
and times of fasting.The prophet Joel
reminds us of this when he calls the people to repentance with the message from
God: “Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.Consecrate the
congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing
infants.Let the bridegroom leave his
room, and the bride her chamber.”
This is such a day among us, the people of God in
the New Testament.Instead of blowing
trumpets, we ring bells.But we “gather
the people,” young and old.We assemble,
and we remember – “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and to dust you shall
return.”And that is one of the reasons
we have a calendar: to remember.We
remember history that is important to us: personal days, national days, church
days.And on this consecrated fast, at
this solemn assembly, we remember the fall in Eden.We remember the words God spoke to Adam.We remember that we are mortal.We remember that we are sinners.And we remember why Jesus came into our
world.
“Remember, O man.”
The ashes remind us of God’s Word spoken to Adam
the man, the adam, that he would return to the dust, the adamah,
from which he was made.The ashes remind
us of death.The ashes are in the form
of a cross: the ancient symbol of punishment: of the death penalty.But this cross is not just any cross, dear
friends.It is a reminder of the cross
of Jesus.It is a reminder that Jesus
also died.But Jesus did not die for His
own sins, for He has none.Jesus died
for our sins.We are not only marked for
death, we are marked for life.We are
marked for forgiveness.We are marked
for redemption by Jesus’ blood.
There will come a time to exchange the fast for the
feast.We will turn a page on our
calendar after these six weeks of fasting to enjoy seven weeks of
feasting.We will exchange the cross for
the crown.
But not yet.
Joel speaks anew to us “priests, the ministers of
the Lord,” when he calls us to “weep and say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord, and
make not your heritage a byword among the nations.’”We who are called to preach to you, to proclaim
the Word of God, both Law and Gospel, to all with ears to hear, in season and
out of season, we are called especially during this consecrated fast to pray
for those under our care, to pray that God will spare them, redeem them, save
them, and forgive them.We pray that the
people of our congregations will remember that they are dust, but also remember
that they are redeemed.We pray that our
people will recommit to the Lord, to hear His Word, to receive Jesus’ body and
blood, to confessing their sins and being absolved, to teaching their children
the faith, to loving their neighbor, to live out the live of repentance and of
forgiveness.
And Joel reminds the people of God the message and
the promise of our gracious Lord, “Behold, I am sending you grain, wine, and
oil, and you will be satisfied; and I will no more make you a reproach among
the nations.”
“Remember, O man.”
In season and out of season, God still promises to
take care of us, dear friends.He sends
us crops.He sends us what we need to
live.He sends us the rain and the
sunshine that continue to sustain life.But
the grain, wine, and oil also have a spiritual meaning as well.The Lord sends us grain: grain that is used
to make bread.We live not by bread
alone, but by God’s Word.And we also
live by the Bread of Life: Jesus Himself, who is given to us in the bread that
is His body.The Lord sends us wine, not
only to gladden the heart of man, as the Psalmist says, but also the very blood
of Christ shed for the forgiveness of sins given to us to drink in the
cup.The Lord sends us oil, dear
friends, not only for our worldly sustenance, but oil that is used as a symbol
of your being sealed by the Holy Spirit, traced in the sign of the cross at
your baptism.
That same cross has been retraced on your forehead
today, dear friends, bearing the ashes that you can see with your eyes, ashes
mixed with the oil of your baptism that you cannot see, except by the eyes of
faith.
And it is important to remember, O man, that God
provides the grain, wine, and oil for us.We can take no credit, even though God calls human beings to plant and
reap, to cultivate and harvest, to pluck and to press, according to the seasons
of planting and reaping, according to the calendar that he has established.It is still by God’s grace that these things
needed for our lives, physical and spiritual, are provided as a gift.
God also provides the Savior for us, so loving the
world that He sent His only son, that we would not perish, but have eternal
life.God provides the cross, Jesus
takes up His cross, and in this consecrated fast, it is our gift to bear our
own cross and follow Jesus.In these
forty days, we follow our Lord into the wilderness, doing battle with the
devil, fasting and meditating on the Word of God.
The calendar helps us remember.Fasting reminds us of the reality that we are
sinners in need of redemption, mortals in need of life.“Remember, O man.”But after the consecrated fast will come the
consecrated feast.For after the
crucifixion will come the resurrection.The
cross is also a reminder of God’s love and forgiveness, of His taking the
burden that we remember upon Himself, because God also remembers His promises
to us.Yes, we are dust, and to dust we
shall return.But we are also dust that
shall return to life.
“Remember, O man.”
Amen.
In
the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. John built his argument that Jesus is the eternal
Word made flesh (John 1:1, 14) around seven particular demonstrations of His
divinity, which John calls “signs.”
Right after the “first of His signs” (John 2:11) – turning water into
wine – an “official” in Capernaum approaches Jesus seeking his son’s
healing. From the other Gospel accounts,
this man was a Roman military officer, and his son is also described as his
servant.
The other accounts give more details of this miracle,
which John has identified as the “second sign” of Jesus in his Gospel. But John glosses over these details in his
own account of this incident – which St. John considers to be one of the seven
most important proofs of our Lord’s divinity.
And there is an irony here. For while John’s Gospel is a rhetorical
argument for the divinity of Jesus, our Lord Himself is not a fan of such
arguments and proofs – which is the very point that John himself makes in what
he emphasizes in this miracle! In other
words, what is important about this sign is that signs are not supposed to be
so important. Nevertheless, we poor,
miserable sinners do need convincing.
Jesus is merciful in giving us signs of His divinity – though the word
of the Word should be enough. For “faith
comes from hearing… the word of Christ (Rom 10:17).
John’s account of the healing of the official’s son hones
in on our Lord’s frustration with the constant demand for signs: “Unless you [plural]
see signs, you [plural] will not believe.”
But the official – who is a Gentile – is not part of that “you [plural].” For he already has faith – which is why he
comes to Jesus in the first place. He
believes in the power of Jesus to command even illness, and to banish it by
means of His words alone. We learn from
Matthew (8:5-13) and Luke (7:1-10) that this centurion has such faith that he
accepts the military-like order of Jesus as sufficient to heal his son. He understands the delegation of authority as
a “man set under authority” (Luke 7:8).
John emphasizes the fact that the official is not
concerned with signs, but rather love for his son. He doesn’t need convincing. He already believes. And so he prays, “Sir, come down before my
child dies.” Jesus commands the illness
to leave from afar: “Go, your son will live.”
In this sign, we see faith – not in signs, but in Jesus
Himself. For signs have a way of taking
over the landscape, becoming more important than the thing signified. Sometimes signs become clutter that only
detracts from the thing being pointed to by the sign. If we understand John’s seven signs not as
rational proofs, but rather as “oracles of God” (Rom 3:2, Heb 5:12, 1 Pet 4:11)
that bear witness to Him who is the Oracle of God Made Flesh, then our faith is
in Jesus and not merely in signs.
And the true signs of Jesus are not merely manifestations
of His mighty power, but also of His “mercy and loving-kindness” (Ps 36:5
AMPC). And in giving us this sign, Jesus
is giving us a sign of His own resurrection, the ultimate sign of both God’s
power and His mercy: “Go, your son will live.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
St. John’s description of Jesus calling His first
disciples is compelling reading. And
these men immediately leave behind their former lives to follow Jesus as if
they had been compelled. John the Baptist
begins by calling Jesus “the Lamb of God.”
His own disciples hear this, and matriculate from John’s rabbiship to
our Lord’s.
St. Andrew was one such disciple of John, who became one
of the first – if not the first – disciple of Jesus. And in short order, Andrew is confessing Jesus
as the Messiah, and evangelizing – telling his brother Simon (who would later
be called ‘Peter’), “We have found the Messiah.”
The account of Philip and Nathaniel joining what will
become the apostolic band is also interesting.
Philip follows Jesus after Jesus invited him with two simple words: “Follow
Me.” Philip goes to Nathaniel and tells
him “We have found Him” – “Him” being the Messiah. Nathaniel replies with a bit of sarcasm that
has the sound of some kind of common saying, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” It sounds a little like how Michiganders and Ohioans
tease each other, or Texans and Oklahomans.
But the irony is that not only is “good” coming from Nazareth, God Himself
is. And Philip replies to him the same
way that Jesus replied to Andrew: “Come and see.”
And when he does “come and see” Jesus, Nathaniel’s
skepticism is immediately turned into faith.
Our Lord says to Nathaniel: “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there
is no deceit!” Jesus is replying to Nathaniel’s
sarcasm with a bit of His own. Maybe
this too is an old saying. It is greatly
ironic, however, because He is saying, “Look here! An honest son of Jacob!” Israelites are descendants of Jacob, whose
very name means: “The Deceiver.” The humor
dripping between the lines is both palpable and quite humorous – in a dry sort
of way.
Something about coming and seeing Jesus, and in hearing
this quip, struck Nathaniel. Jesus has
revealed something to Nathaniel that He could not have possibly known by
natural means. “How do you know me?”
asks a bewildered Nathaniel. “Before Philip
called you,” replies Jesus, “when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Clearly, this was something supernatural,
something that revealed our Lord’s divine nature. For Nathaniel replies in a way that flesh and
blood has not revealed (as Jesus would later describe Simon Peter’s confession
of Him as the Christ). Nathaniel says: “Rabbi,
you are the Son of God! You are the King
of Israel!” Our Lord replies, as we
would say in modern, colloquial English: “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet!”
Jesus says: “You will see heaven opened, and the angels
of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” This too is a significant biblical reference
to Jacob. For this is the vision that Jacob
saw, prefiguring the cross. Nathaniel is
to be an apostolic fulfillment of Israel, as the twelve tribes are extended to
the twelve apostles: Deceiving Jacob would wrestle with God in the flesh, and the
chosen people of Israel will be extended to all nations: people who experience God
in the flesh in the person of Jesus, the Son of God and King of Israel.
For this is the church, and the church starts with the
calling of the Twelve. The apostolic preaching
and the church itself continue to this day, dear friends. We are still inviting people to “Come and
see.” And our Lord Jesus Christ is still
inviting and saying: “Follow Me.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the
Holy Spirit. Amen.
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