The Task of Saving Souls

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THIS is, of course, no joke, no easy task at all. But we just have to do it because Christ commands us to do so. What he told his apostles, sending them in pairs and giving them special powers, can and should also be addressed to us.

In spite of our unworthiness, we should just take to heart this command of Christ: to preach repentance and to lead people back to God. This is what apostolate is all about, though we should do it with both supernatural and human means.

This task of saving souls is first of all a continuing divine work of human redemption which we are asked to cooperate. It cannot stop. And yes, we are expected to cooperate in it, since if we are incorporated into Christ through baptism and in the Spirit, we can’t avoid getting involved in God’s plans and actions.

The realization of this crucial aspect of our Christian life gives proper meaning and perspective to our whole life and everything contained in it. It puts our life in the right orbit.

Our life can’t simply be a life in pursuit of personal sanctity without doing apostolate. These two go together inseparably, mutually affecting each other to put us on the right track in our life.

This joint God-and-man effort is also in keeping with our dignity as persons and as children of God. As persons, we need to see to it that we get to be responsible also for our whole life, for attaining its true fullness of purpose.

And that’s nothing less than to participate in the life of God, since more than persons, we are children of his, meant to live with Him.

Thus, to do apostolate engages our intelligence and will in their proper way. It’s how we can best use our freedom and our loving. It’s how we can be truly responsible for our life.

In short, if these distinctive human faculties and activities are not used for apostolate but rather for some other human purpose only, we would be misusing them. No matter how noble these human purposes are, if the apostolic dimension is missing, we would be misusing these God-given powers.

To do apostolate also corresponds to a most basic reality about ourselves. We are never alone, meant to live our life in isolation from the others. Like it or not, conscious of it or not, we live with others. We are somehow responsible for one another.

Therefore, we need to sharpen our awareness of our apostolic duty, since left to our own devices, we would rather give our complete attention solely to ourselves. This tendency is a consequence of our sinfulness. But originally, before man’s fall, we tend to love and care for one another.

To develop this apostolic concern therefore entails sacrifice. We should not be surprised if in pursuing it we are challenged, faced with difficulties and asked to do self-denials and other forms of sacrifice.

We just have to hold firm on our Christian conviction, together with the continuing petition for God’s grace and the generous discharge of our human effort, that to do apostolate is the will of God. He is bent in accomplishing it. It’s his first concern to contend with the difficulties. Ours is simply to cooperate.

We have to continually ask ourselves if our thoughts and desires bear an eminently apostolic character. If not, let’s immediately do the necessary adjustments and corrections.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com