Wednesday in the Easter Season
I was involved with training other students to serve small, Ignatian faith communities on my Jesuit university campus. After graduation, that evolved into leading a summer program for campus ministers and peer leaders who would come together to pray, learn, and envision how they might serve the spiritual needs of their own campuses. Much of this collaboration happened pre-social media, resulting in few opportunities to connect afterwards. We “scattered” after the program and each spread the Gospel in diverse and assorted ways. I had no control over how each of these individuals would share what they received.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we see the disciples “scatter” throughout the region, bringing the Good News of Jesus to those who never witnessed the miracles of Jesus themselves. Faith is deeply personal, often nurtured in one-on-one conversation, in a small group, and in our unique journey towards God. And yet, that personal conversion happens in the context of a local community and a wider Church. Like the early disciples, each one of us is sent forth to proclaim with our lives the ways that Christ has been present. Each day we scatter seeds of hope and faith, yet we may never see them come to fruition.
The post originally appeared in the Jesuit Prayer App on May 4, 2022.
Jesus, Lord and brother,
in my Easter joy,
I want more than to just be aware of you in my life.
I want to believe in your presence at my side.
I feel blessed with an abundance of your gifts
and your promise of being raised on the last day.
Help me to be like the your early followers
and, even when I am scattered,
to have my life be an example
of your word at work in today’s world.
Thank you for the great mercy you show us.
–Creighton University Online Ministries Praying Easter
Jen Coito: Ignatius at Home 