A Cycle – 12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time 23

Mt. 10:26-33

Last week we heard Jesus tell the disciples to go out and preach the kingdom of God is at hand. Not just by using words but with demonstrations of God’s power to heal, to cast out demons and to raise the dead.  We easily hear these gospel stories and like any good story we are intrigued by them and perhaps we even visualize them happening. But in the end, like all good stories, we put them on a shelf, and we may from time to time tell others about them, but we know they do not represent real life.

We may even believe those signs and wonders are possible by the intercession of individuals much holier than we are.  The saints, mystics and even those we could have seen in our lifetime, like Padre Pio. The fact that there are individuals like him reinforces our belief that they are special, and we can only imagine what it would be like to witness someone healed because we prayed with them.  

For most Catholics, last week’s gospel is a distant memory.  It was an interesting story but there was nothing in it that anyone could apply to their own spiritual journey.  Today’s gospel is a continuation of those early days of the disciple’s formation.  Jesus is preparing the disciples for a task they yet do not understand.  But the scriptures were given to us, and it is a source of our own formation as disciples.

The church teaches us we are equipped and called to carry on the mission of Jesus Christ.  At this moment in time, we are His witnesses and disciples.  If this is our mission, what we need to learn is how to trust in the promises of God to provide us with all we need.  We need courage to overcome hesitancy and our feeling of inadequacy.   

We need to stop reading the bible stories and start discovering what God is saying to us as we focus on the words and promises of Christ and God the Father.  Each story helps us understand who we are and what we are called to become. 

Feeling inadequate think about the disciples Jesus called.  They were from the lowest class of individuals in their society.  The Galileans were looked upon with disdain by the elite of Jerusalem. They were reputed to be uneducated, poor, and unimportant except to perform jobs no educated person would perform.  Yet they changed the world because they believed and trusted in the empowerment they received at Pentecost.

We need to stop looking at them as superhuman and pay attention to how much like them we are.  These disciples became powerful evangelist because they embraced the teachings of Christ and relied on the power of the Spirit to guide them and to shape them.  Did you notice their lack of hesitation when told to raise the dead?  There were no questions, and no one said what they were to do was impossible.  They just did what Jesus told them to do.  I would encourage you to read this story in Luke’s gospel.  Not because it is different but because Luke includes something else in his gospel about who can fulfill this mission of proclaiming the kingdom is at hand and tapping into the power of God to heal, cast out demons, give sight to the blind and yes raise the dead.    

We know in addition to the disciples there was a large contingent of people following Jesus.  In fact, the Pentecost story tells us there were one hundred and twenty in that upper room.  All waiting and praying for the power from on high to come upon them. The story of Pentecost tells us, “All” received the Spirit that day.  All hundred and twenty were proclaiming the glory of God, and all were empowered to go out and preach the kingdom of God is at hand. 

As the disciples returned from achieving all Jesus said they would achieve, He continued to form them.  Jesus challenged them to go beyond what they believe is possible.  He tells us and them not to be concerned about lacking education or how to be persuasive in their ability to proclaim the kingdom.  Instead, He reassures us by confirming “…there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be made known” (Lk. 10:26). 

We do not need more education, or more theology.  We do not need to be more pious or holiness.  What we need more trust and a firm belief in the promises of Christ.  We need to embrace the challenge to go forth and preach the word.  That is not the task of someone more educated, someone more qualified or someone holier than us.  No, it is ours and we are told to do it by Jesus and the church. 

We need to start reading the scriptures, the New Testament and Acts of the Apostles, and begin to see they are not stories about the past, but they are words of God to us now, today as we go about our daily lives. 

We need to stop looking at these as unique and discover they were they were very ordinary people who embraced the teachings of Jesus.  That is the point of the stories.  Jesus was clear on the cost of discipleship.  It is all in or nothing.  We cannot be lukewarm; we cannot say I am busy with other things. No, it is all in or we are just deceiving ourselves into believing discipleship demands only that we show up from time.  The disciples went out and did exactly what Jesus commanded them to do. They came back rejoicing because people were healed, demons were cast out, eyes were opened, and the people responded.    

Yet shortly after they returned, we see them hesitate and doubt when Jesus challenges them to feed the five thousand. What happened to the faith they had when they healed the sick or cast out demons?  Or is this another moment of teaching where Jesus is showing them something even greater is possible if we believe.  How can five thousand people be fed by a few fish and a few loaves of bread?  They just witnessed people being healed, lives restored all because they invoked the name of Jesus.  Jesus is showing them and us we have the power to do things physically impossible. Multiply food, walk on water, move mountains, and let nothing stand int the way of proclaiming the kingdom of God by signs and wonders. 

This is important for us to understand is because we are also called to be witnesses of God today.   We are commanded by Jesus to go out and continue the mission of discipleship.  Is this possible?  Yes, it is possible!  Jesus in Luke’s gospel sends out not just the disciples, but He sends out seventy “others” to “heal the sick” and proclaim the kingdom (Lk.10:1).  Those seventy others were ordinary believers who followed Jesus and believed He was the Son of God.  Those seventy others depended on the power of God to give them the words and yes even signs and wonders as to proclaim Jesus as Lord.  It is you Jesus is calling to go out and proclaim the kingdom of God dependent only on the Spirit to do today what He did then.