Brief Background:

REFLECTION:

One of the things that I remember and love about Catherine of Siena was when she called the pope to return to Rome. She was not a bishop, not ordained, and held no official authority in the structure of the Church, yet she possessed a deep love for Christ and His Church that moved her to act. At a time when the papacy had settled in Avignon, distant from its proper place, Catherine, through prayer, courage, and conviction, wrote to Pope Gregory XI and urged him to return. She did not do this out of defiance, but out of fidelity to the mission of the Church. She recognized that the Church could not remain comfortable, distant, or inward-looking. The Church had to be present, to lead, and to witness. And through her faithfulness, the pope returned to Rome.

That same spirit is what we begin to see unfold in the Acts of the Apostles, particularly in Acts 12:24—13:5a. Up until this point, the Church has been learning how to receive—receiving the Holy Spirit, receiving the message of the Resurrection, and receiving new members into the community. But here, there is a shift. While the community is worshiping and fasting, the Holy Spirit speaks: “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul…” In that moment, the Church moves from simply receiving to being sent. This is the turning point: from receiving the Gospel to proclaiming it to the world.

This passage reminds us that the Church was never meant to remain in a place of comfort. It is easy for us to stay in the “receiving” phase of our faith—to come to Mass, to receive the sacraments, to listen and to learn. But the Gospel does not end there. At some point, we are called to go forth, to proclaim, to witness. The Holy Spirit continues to speak, continues to call, and continues to send. The question is whether we are listening.

St. Catherine of Siena shows us that being missionary is not limited to those with titles or positions. It belongs to anyone who loves the Church enough to act for her good. Sometimes being missionary means traveling to distant lands, like Barnabas and Saul. But other times, it means speaking truth with love, stepping into difficult conversations, or calling the Church—and one another—back to her mission.

The early Church was sent out from a community of prayer, fasting, and discernment. They did not act alone; they were formed together and then sent together. The same is true for us. We are not just individuals trying to live out our faith privately. To be Christian, to be Catholic, is not a private reality—it is public. We are a community being formed so that we can be sent.

And so we are invited to reflect: Where is the Holy Spirit sending us? What is preventing us from moving from receiving to proclaiming? The Church is most alive not when she is simply receiving, but when she is being sent. May we, like the early Church, listen to the voice of the Spirit, and like St. Catherine of Siena, have the courage to act—so that the Gospel may continue to grow and be proclaimed to the ends of the earth.