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St. Paul in his letter to the second letter to the Corinthians (5:20); clearly states and urges; "We are Christ's ambassadors, as though God was making his appeal through us."
This means that we represent Christ and if we represent Christ we should imitate him in all the virtues that he exhibited on earth.
When Jesus told his disciples before his ascension to go to the ends of the world and preach his gospel, to baptize everyone in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit; Christ meant that we were all representing the Trinity.
This is a great responsibility and every baptized person has to be an ambassador for Jesus in his own way and in his own domain and territory even reaching out of his comfort zone to the world on end. There are many ways that a Christian can be an ambassador for Christ. Firstly, we have to be reconciled with God. We have to accept the teachings of Christ and take the message of the resurrection so that all may come to believe. We have to speak on behalf of Christ when we plead with others to come back to God. We have to no longer live for ourselves but for Christ, since we are now a new creation in him, he who has been raised to live forever. We have to be peacemakers and be one in the Spirit with all Christians.
We look at the life of St. Joseph the worker whose feast we celebrated on May 1. We all know how he provided and took care of his holy family. One might think he was the first ambassador when Christ was born representing his heavenly father by standing in for Jesus as his foster father and guardian. He had the honour of naming Jesus at his presentation in the temple. He made the flight into Egypt taking the babe Jesus and his mother to a haven of safe refuge and then back to Nazareth. He looked for Jesus when he was lost and found him in the temple where the elders were astonished at the wisdom of the child and honoured Joseph as the father and the reason for the boy's intelligence. St. Joseph indeed provided a beautiful dwelling for Jesus and Mary in Galilee. Being a carpenter, he trained the boy Jesus with his skills and wood work.
However, St. Joseph was not without his doubts which lingered in his heart when Mary conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.
In the book Consecration to St. Joseph, Fr. Donald Calloway, has explained the three possible reasons for Joseph’s decision to send Mary away and call off the betrothal, which he named as the Doubt Theory, the Stupefaction Theory, and the Reverence Theory. According to him, the last theory seems validated since St. Joseph decided to leave Mary out of a deep reverence for her Spirit incarnated pregnancy. Though he was a righteous man, he felt unworthy to be honoured with this great favour. God appreciated his humility by sending His angel to command Joseph in a dream to take Mary his wife into his home. On waking up Joseph obeyed and did exactly as the angel had told him.
Through further subsequent messages from the Angel who guided him during the infancy of Christ, when and how to act. Joseph was always an eternal guardian on guard paying heed to the messages given in his dream and thus an important person himself in the plan of God's salvation.
Joseph is honoured in the Church with Protodulia (honour as the first among the saints), second only to the Hyperdulia (the highest degree of reverence) reserved for the Blessed Virgin.
St. Peter Julian Eymard, quoted, "Devotion to St. Joseph is one of the choicest graces that God can give to a soul, for it is tantamount to revealing the entire treasury of our Lord’s graces. When God wishes to raise a soul to greater heights, he unites it to St. Joseph by giving it a strong love for the good saint."
May we always look up to St. Joseph whenever in doubt, confusion and most of all for protection for he will surely guard the families on earth just as he did for Jesus and Mary.
May we imitate his obedience in listening to the messages given by God, through the people around us and to the voice of the Holy Spirit within.
Most of all, may we follow his example of being an ambassador by our own willingness to make the people of God experience the great love of Jesus and to provide for the spiritual needs of the Church.
To always be an ambassador of the love of Christ!
Maria Franco
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