Today’s readings can be summed-up in “a promise made, a promise fulfilled.” In the first reading from Isaiah, the prophet tells of God’s promise to provide for Israel by saying that “I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.” Thus the promise of “wealth” is fulfilled in the direct action of God: in Jesus Christ – and in His disciples who follow Him.

Yes, the wealth that is the Christ comes also to us in and through the actions of His disciples. In Baptism, we are all given the privilege to serve God in serving others. It is in the comforting, in the consoling, and in the carrying of others that the continuation of Christ’s earthly ministry goes on…and it is in this multiplying and generational love, that the Kingdom of God is manifested in the here-and-now, giving us a foretaste and prefiguring of what is to come in the Eternal Kingdom.

The question for us today—especially in light of the last few weekend’s Gospel messages about just what discipleship in Christ must comprise is; Will I be part of that ongoing fulfillment that comes through Jesus Christ and the action of His disciples?

Will I offer peace in situations of sadness, injustice or violence? Will I—not the next person or someone else years down the road—offer the peace given to me at Baptism, completed in Confirmation, and renewed by the Sacrament of the Eucharist each time I receive Christ…will I be His hands, His heart, His compassion and His justice in the life I have been given?

Unfortunately, there is no shortage of opportunities to acknowledge and teach the truth which Christ has given to us. There are so many places—around the kitchen table, in the boardroom or in the classroom, on the soccer field, and in my family situations where Christ is calling me to spread the Truth—His Truth—about life, about marriage and family, about personal character and responsibility, about sharing in His family of humanity—Philia Love—thus being Christ to another. Re-member, Christ said “Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). It is not enough just to know the truth our-selves and to live it out individually, but discipleship means to imitate Christ…and teach others what the truth is. Love, not an emotional, Hallmark card-like love, calls us to correctness, “not just a comforting feeling that says “I’m O.K., your O.K., do what you want.” Rather, Love—God’s Love—calls us to be the best