My dear young people,

On Sunday last I blessed the Net ministry students graduating to take the good news of Jesus out to young people in Australia, New Zealand, and even overseas.  They are going forth to promote God’s marvellous Kingdom.  Tonight I have come here to this aptly named “Twelve Apostles” Catholic Church to commission the Youth Ministry team of this Parish to go out to other young people of the Parish to introduce them to the Church, but above all to introduce them to Jesus.  Last Lent and this Lent I visited all the Deaneries to communicate with young and old people about aspects of the Catholic faith we can easily forget, especially in communicating with others.  As 1 Peter C.3 says so powerfully:

“Always be prepared to make a defence to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence”.  

That sentence from 1 Peter takes it for granted that we know our faith and rejoice in it.  That is enormously important for the ministry team of Darra Jindalee.  We all need to be people of hope.  It is precisely for that reason that I have gone out and continue to go out in Lent to educate people young and old about Jesus our Saviour.  However the key to Jesus always is “love”.  God is love and brought the world and us into existence because of love.  We exist because we are loved.  Each and every one of us with different looks and talents exist because God loved us into existence.  When the world after creation failed to love in the persons of Adam and Eve, God promised that he would not destroy the world, but rather he would send his only Son to change the world for the better, out of love.  Jesus came to show us love, love of the Father, and love by His Son as he reached out to the poor and needy people of the world, and when rejected by the authorities of his time he died through his death and resurrectin, which made the world a new world, a new creation in Him.  Because of his suffering and death we are now new people who are called upon to contribute to a new world by acts of kindness and love.  It is not just good enough to know about Jesus, without at the same time living love, as he did with a kind word there, a greeting here, a prayer of kindness there, an act of worship here.  Once we live a life of love we change the world, until it reaches completion in the second coming of Jesus.  We must contribute to the fullness of God’s world.  We must live in hope for the second coming of Jesus.  All of that is summed up in this Mass we celebrate this evening.
The first scripture reading from Deuteronomy tells us that God walks beside us always.  Never forget that fact.  God is with us.  As the second reading says from Romans 10/8-13 “the faith we proclaim is very real to us”.  Will that be easy?  -  of course not.  As we see in Luke 4/1-13 Jesus himself was tempted to abandon this world of love - and look after himself alone.  Those temptations can afflict each and every one of us.  Instead of being a person who reaches out to others we can instead try to love people who care for themselves alone.  As the letter to the Philippians says we need to think of ourselves as second to others.  We need to empty ourselves as Jesus did to make himself a carer of others.  So my dear young people try to make yourself a lover as Jesus himself was a lover, not a romantic lover as the world understands it but a lover of all people who are our brothers and sisters in the one family of God.  Let us become people of love who change the world for the better as we reach out to share our good news with others.  When you are commissioned tonight try to understand better Jesus whom we meet in this Mass.  Be prepared always to empty your life as Jesus has done.

Archbishop John Bathersby

21st Feb 2010