Today, we hear from the first letter of Peter. In great wisdom, this reading asserts that our salvation was paid for us not by things of the world such as gold or silver, but rather by the blood of Christ. We have our new life in Christ not in the perishable things of this world, but in things that are eternal and divine. While we see things in this world that are beautiful and that catch our eye, it is the word of God that endures forever. That is where we are called to put our faith and trust.
We have heard about this a lot about engaging the world in a “new evangelization” in recent years. Back in the late 6th century, Pope Gregory the Great felt the call to bring the Gospel to the Anglo Saxons of Great Britain. They had not yet been converted to the Christian faith. Pope Gregory sent a man named Augustine to head a group of 40 monks to evangelize the Anglo Saxons. When I think of monks, I don’t think of them going off to mission territory and evangelizing the people there. Augustine heard about the ferocity of the Anglo Saxons. He wanted to turn back and abandon the mission. Gregory would not allow them to turn back. Augustine met great success in establishing 3 different mission dioceses and founding the cathedral seat in Canterbury, where his remains were buried upon his death 7 years after arriving in England. God may also be calling us out of our own comfort zone to evangelize others with the Gospel message.
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