We continue to hear
from Paul’s letter to the Galatians today. Paul explains that
those who do have faith receive the same blessing as Abraham – our father in
faith. We receive this
blessing regardless of being Jew or Gentile. Paul explains that
Christ came to free us from the covenant of the Jewish Law in to give us the
path of faith under the new covenant we have in Christ. This God has made
available to all people as a freely given gift.
Paul, as we know,
thought Christianity was open to all, not just to those who were under the
Jewish covenant with God. The saint we
celebrate today is Daniel Comboni, who was born in Italy in 1831. His dream was to
bring Christianity to Central Africa. He
was ordained the Bishop of Central Africa in 1877. He established a missionary
institute for priests and brothers and one for religious sisters to bring the
Gospel to Africa. He made 8
missionary trips to Africa. He wrote
about his work in the fields of the Lord in his journal: “Blessed be the Lord.
Have no fear. Our lives are in God’s hands. Let God do with them what God
wills: we have irrevocably sacrificed them to The Lord. May God be blessed….In
baptism we promise and dedicate ourselves to God the Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. We are called to be a
missionary, to spread the good news to all we meet each day through everything
we do and to love and serve others. Comboni died in 1881 after an illness at
the young age of 50, yet he had this to say: “I am dying, but my work will not
die.” Today there are
more than 1,800 Comboni missionaries – priests, brothers, and sisters – working
in the mission field throughout the world.
I served as a lay missionary with the Comboni Missionaries for three
years in Ecuador. I am for ever grateful
for that opportunity and to help out in the work that they do. I see Daniel
Comboni in the spirit of St Paul, in bringing the Gospel to the world. May we live in that
same spirit.
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