A Christian is always an apostle

By Fr. Roy Cimagala *

          WE need to realize this more widely and deeply. If we want

to follow Christ, if we truly consider ourselves as real Christians

and not Christians in name only, we have to be like Christ, holy and

with the burning desire to save all men. Thus, we ought to make

sanctity and apostolate the most important, ultimate and abiding goal

of our life.

          We are reminded of this truth about ourselves on the feast

of St. Andrew, the Apostle (November 30), where Christ simply would

pass by some men and then tell them to follow him. (cfr. Mt 4,18-22)

And, wonder of wonders, the persons called would just follow him too

without asking any question, willing to leave everything behind.

          I guess the only plausible explanation to that phenomenon is

that Christ had all the right to do so, and the person called also had

the duty to respond accordingly, because in the final analysis, all of

us are actually meant to be an apostle. That is to say, to be some

kind of ambassador, a representative of Christ on earth.

          At bottom, the answer is because we are supposed to be like

Christ, another Christ, if not Christ himself (“alter Christus,” and

even “ipse Christus”). All of us are patterned after Christ, and so we

cannot avoid being involved in the mission of Christ which is the

salvation of all mankind. Obviously, this business of making ourselves

like Christ, involved in apostolic work, would require a process and

would involve several stages.

          But we have to realize that we are all meant to be apostles

of Christ with the lifelong concern for doing apostolate, taking

advantage of all the occasions and situations in life. Vatican II

spells it out very clearly. “The Christian vocation is by its very

nature a vocation to the apostolate.” (Apostolicam actuositatem, 2)

So, anyone who wants to be truly consistent to his Christian identity

and calling should realize ever deeply that he is called to help

others get closer to God. This is what apostolate is all about.

          This duty actually springs first of all from our nature. We

are not only individual persons. We are also a social being. Our

sociability is not an optional feature. It is part of our essence,

violating which would be equivalent to violating our very own nature.

          We can never live alone. We need to be with others. And

more, we need to care for one another. We have to be responsible for

one another. And while this caring and loving starts with the most

immediate material human needs like food, clothing, etc., it has to go

all the way to the spiritual and more important needs of ours.

          That’s why we need to practice affection, compassion,

understanding, patience and mercy with everyone. We have to understand

though that all these can only take place if they spring and tend

towards God, “the source of all good things” for us.

          We need to be familiar with this Christian duty. We have to

do apostolate, and we need to see to it that the zeal for it is always

nourished, stoked and fanned to its most intense degree.

          We just have to be trusting of God’s will and ways, no

matter how hard and impossible they may appear to us, and that we have

to develop an apostolic concern that is universal in scope, unafraid

of the sacrifices involved.

* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com