AMBROSE FOR BISHOP!

Memorial of St. Ambrose
Isaiah 40:25-31
Matthew 11:28-30

Advent invites us to ponder deeply who we are in light of God becoming one of us, flesh and blood in real time and space… the Incarnation. It is a season of expectation. A time to wait on the Lord. The world we are in today do not like waiting everything is moving too fast and when most people and it seems their prayers are not heard. They feel discouraged and easily give up. We need to have faith in God that all things work together for our good. St. Monica had to wait for about 27 yrs before her son was converted. That is heroic patience. God is ready to bring fulfillment to us in due time. God knows best.

Throughout her entire life, she was privileged to have St. Ambrose as a pastor, shepherd and guide. St. Ambrose was devoted to the teachings of the truth both in sacred scriptures and sacred traditions handed down to the Church by Christ through his apostles and the Christian Fathers This truths saved mankind and our world. He was configured to Christ so that the truth of the gospel can be strength and relief.

Ambrose became the Bishop of Milan with the acclamation of the entire community and as at this time the Arian heresy was flowering- the heresy say that Christ is not God but a super human being which goes contrary to the faith that has been handed from the apostolic tradition and what Christ says about himself. Through St Ambrose many came to the understanding of the faith more and more and were converted and one of them was St. Augustine of Hippo who received the sacrament of baptism and gave him instructions in how to enter into the mysteries of the faith revealed. His instructions are very relevant in guiding us through the Catholic faith and the teachings of the Church.

When Emperor Theodosius the Great became the ruler of all the Roman Empire, he did not stop himself from opposing the Emperor himself in a very well-known occasion as St. Ambrose excommunicated the Emperor for having been complicit in his role in the massacre of the people and the innocent population of the great city of Thessalonica. That led to the Emperor himself humbling himself before God and the people, as he put aside his Imperial cloak and garments, wearing the garments of a penitent, and repented from his sins, and welcomed back into the Church by St. Ambrose himself. That gave rise to the famous saying that the emperor is in the Church not above it.

To strive to imitate Ambrose, we must ask ourselves the following questions :

Do you have pastoral zeal to serve God and humanity?

Are we ready to suffer for the Faith and the Church?

Do you stand for truth no matter what comes your way?

Can you bring peaceful resolutions to dangerous situations?

May the Holy Spirit teach us how to listen to Christ and follow the truth. Amen.

Fr Joseph Osho