We belong to the Holy, Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Therefore our life of faith and our spiritual life must both be marked by these characteristics.

We must be holy. We must do what we can to preserve the unity of the Church under the Pope, the successor of Peter as bishop of Rome, or at the very least we must not do anything to damage that unity in any way. We must acknowledge that the Church is for all nations and all peoples: it is universal and Catholic, not national and nationalistic.

On a feast of the Apostles, we may reflect on the fourth characteristic - "apostolic". We usually use this term when we refer to our ministry or service in the Church. A Christian community can never be merely a friendship group, though friendship can be a very important part of apostolic service. Nor can a Christian community be merely a social action group: it must always be animated by the Gospel and oriented towards the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, we must individually be apostolic in a spiritual sense: we must be prepared to answer God's call with "unfeigned love" as the Entrance Antiphon today suggests.