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Apostolic Action

Hello everyone, as you already know, I’m David and I worship at the Swan Parish.
What you probably don’t know is that I lived itinerantly like a gypsy for a few years in
my early 20’s

Cursillo presents 3 principal elements in living as a Christian.

Piety

Study

Apostolic Action

I think that Dave summed it up nicely with Jesus’ words, recorded in Mark 12:30-31 “
‘...you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and
with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your
neighbour as yourself.’

Loving God with all your heart and soul – speaks of Piety

Loving God with all your mind – is a call to study

Loving your neighbour as yourself – is a call to Action

And they all feed into and support one other.

Piety – communion & relationship with God

Study – learning about God, about myself and about what I can do for God

Apostolic Action – Sharing Gods love, doing what I can do for God

drawing a diagram on a clip-board

In my own experience:

as I’ve grown in my relationship with God, I have a craving

to know more about God

to share the love of God, that I experience

as I learn

more about God I am able to get to know God more deeply

about serving God I become more confident at and able to share my love
for God

as I share my love for God, I find that I

grow closer to God

learn more about both God and me

It seems to me that a balance in these 3 areas is indicative of Christian maturity.

Christianity is, or should be, central to our whole life. A way of life, not just something
we do on Sundays or on special occasions.

Our Christianity is expressed on 2 planes

our relationship with God

our relationship with those around us

To me, both planes are really about my relationship with God

picking up on that passage from Mark 12, about loving God and loving your
neighbour:

loving God – that’s self explanatory

loving neighbours - well, if Christ lives in me and I am a temple of God,

And ... if I am to see Christ in those around me (both Christians and Non-
Christians) and Christ is God manifest ... then, again, in loving my
neighbour I am loving God

So .... we are called to respond to God’s love for us, through action on both planes

directly to God

and through those around us, our neighbours

What, then, is Apostolic Action? How do I respond?

Well it’s not simply doing ‘good things’ or being involved in Christian outreaches or
activities

Apostolic Action is a response to God’s love for us and an expression of our love for
God. Like I said a moment ago, in loving my neighbour I am loving God.

God calls us to the process of reconciling others to Himself, as outlined in 2 Corinthians

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has
given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling
the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and
entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.

God is reconciled with us through Christ, and God has assign to us the message of
reconciliation; the ‘Good News’.

This statement from the Wollaston website sums it up another way:

The Church believes all baptised Christians are called to be partners in the
ministry of the Church.
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In their daily lives, and work in the world, the baptised have a unique ministry in
the place where God has called them to be, to bear witness in their lives, actions
and words to the reconciling love of God revealed most clearly in Jesus Christ.

I read a book, a while ago, by Thomas Green, a Jesuit Priest, and one particular thing he
wrote about has stuck with me. He wrote about the difference between ‘working for
God’ and ‘doing God’s work’. It’s a subtle difference, but a big one.

demonstration with glasses & coloured water:

It plays out something like this:

I can go to church on Sundays, maybe even home or study groups too, and get my
‘shot of God’; get filled up – then I can ‘work for God’ doing good things, sharing the
gospel, and so on. Then I can go back to church to ‘fill up’ again.

OR ... if Christianity is my way of life and I am in a deep relationship with God; God’s
love for me and my love for God will overflow from me to others; and I will be ‘doing
God’s work’.

In loving others as I love God, I inevitably draw them to God, and I don’t need to get
hung up about them becoming Christian because God/the Holy Spirit does that, not
me.

Some of us might be led to big things, ministries or whatever, but most of us just have
to plant seeds, or maybe water the seeds. That might be as simple as going to work
oozing with God’s love, sharing gratitude or encouraging someone; just out of God’s
love for them.

If I’m overflowing with God’s love, loving others won’t be restricted to churchy or ‘safe’
surroundings; it won’t be just when I feel like it or to put myself in the spotlight. And
sharing God’s love is definitely not an option; God’s called us to share His love.

Rather ...

Love for others wells up out of our love for God and God’s love for us; it’s having an
attitude of Christ towards others. It’s not self centred but is self giving.

Apostolic Action is, in a way, a measure of our spiritual growth. And it brings God’s love
into the world, helping it to change, to be reconciled.

‘Doing God’s work’ involves:

speaking to God about people before I speak to people about God

prayer (speaking with God)

expressing love and joy, or overflowing with God’s love and joy

our everyday lives, following God’s will among the people God has put around us

The Cursillo method of Apostolic action is:

make a friend - take the first step, love that person

be a friend - be authentic, interested, give then your time

bring your friend to Christ - let Christ be part of the relationship, let your life give
witness to Christ – with love, joy, peace. Your friend will
see Christ in you and be drawn to Christ

Now, ... I want you to do something, in your table communities, in a moment:

1) I want you to share 3 small things you can do, over the next couple of weeks, to
share God’s love
2) And, I want you to write down the name of someone whom you can ‘make a
friend – make the first move’; maybe someone who needs a friend.

Being Christian means living what we believe; unless it’s our way of life the ‘Good
News’ is only good advice

Paraphrasing a passage from Matthew 25;

If we live in relationship with God; loving God, loving our neighbour,

when the son of man comes in his glory ... the King will say to us, ‘Come, you
who are blessed by my Father; ... what you have done for your neighbours you have
done for Me