“Being firm and joyful in being an ‘Ambassador for Christ and His Kingdom!’”

(Based on Acts 13:13-25 and Jn 13:16-20 – Thursday of the 4th Week in Easter)

An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high ranking diplomat who represents a state.

He/she is usually accredited to another sovereign state, or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sovereign.

Ambassadors have some general functions…

Diplomatic:
Conducting negotiations with the host government, representing their state in meetings and delivering messages on behalf of their own government, receiving messages the host government for relay back to their own; being the spokesperson for their government etc.

Ceremonial:
Representing their government at public events in that host country and being the most visible symbol of their own country

Administrative:
Overseeing the operations at the embassy and of other diplomats and staff.

This word “ambassador” is also often used more liberally for persons who are known, without national appointment, to represent certain professions, activities and fields of endeavour.

The Gospel of the Day presents Jesus, the “Ambassador” of His Heavenly Father, and who in turn, invites each of us to be His Ambassador and of His Kingdom in our world.

Jesus says: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send, receives Me, and whoever receives Me, receives the One who sent Me” (Jn 13:20)

Jesus came into this world to reveal the love and mercy of God.

He is Love made flesh and Mercy Incarnate.
While on earth, Jesus sought to be the perfect Representative of God, His Almighty and Beloved Father.

Finding deep communion in long hours of prayer, Jesus would emphatically give witness to His Father…
… by His mighty deeds of power, spectacular wonders of healing and His heart-touching words of eternal life.

This mission of being the Ambassador of the Father, was however, not without its shares of pain for Jesus…
… He had the face the pain of being rejected by His own people
… He had to bear the agony of being betrayed by His own chosen one
… He had to face the humiliation of the worst form of execution known those days

Yet, none of this could deter the Lord from choosing to be the “Ambassador” for the Kingdom of Heaven.

He today invites each one of us to be an “Ambassador” for Him and His Kingdom.

Like an ambassador of the state or a country, perhaps we too have certain functions and roles as being the privileged “Ambassador for Christ”…

Diplomatic:
In the sense of not being compromising, but a function that makes us to be convinced and passionate in preaching the message of the Lord and His Kingdom to others.

Nothing should bring us low or falter us from standing firm in proclaiming His Word and standing for His Gospel virtues.

Ceremonial:
In the sense of not being show-off or parading mere externally, rather a duty that requires of us to make our very lives and every action a witness of the Love and Mercy of God.

Our very words should reflect the goodness of the Lord Our very actions should radiate the gentleness and holiness of the Lord
Our very life should mirror the self-sacrificing and altruistic nature of the Lord.

Administrative
In the sense of not being power-hungry or position-seekers, rather, with a servant-like attitude, seeking the good and upliftment of others.

As a representative of Christ, we must also feel the obligation within us to bring others to the faith in Jesus and make His message of love and holiness to spread to all.
The spiritual growth of the other ought to become a genuine concern for me!

St Paul in his Second Letter to the Corinthians echoes this call and invite of the Lord, to be His Ambassadors…
“We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us” (2 Cor 5:18-20).

We read in the Acts of the Apostles of St Paul along with other companions giving a public witness to Jesus and thus becoming His ambassador! (Acts 13:14 ff)

Let us also be firm and joyful in being an “Ambassador for Christ and His Kingdom!”

God Bless! Live Jesus!

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📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
THE SACRAMENTS OF CHRIST

The ordained ministry or ministerial priesthood is at the service of the baptismal priesthood.
The ordained priesthood guarantees that it really is Christ who acts in the sacraments through the Holy Spirit for the Church.
The saving mission entrusted by the Father to his incarnate Son was committed to the apostles and through them to their successors: they receive the Spirit of Jesus to act in his name and in his person.
The ordained minister is the sacramental bond that ties the liturgical action to what the apostles said and did and, through them, to the words and actions of Christ, the source and foundation of the sacraments.
The three sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and Holy Orders confer, in addition to grace, a sacramental character or “seal” by which the Christian shares in Christ’s priesthood and is made a member of the Church according to different states and functions.
This configuration to Christ and to the Church, brought about by the Spirit, is indelible, it remains for ever in the Christian…
… as a positive disposition for grace
… a promise and guarantee of divine protection
… and as a vocation to divine worship and to the service of the Church.

Therefore these sacraments can never be repeated (CCC # 1120-1121)