Word to the Wise
Monday, July 12, 2010 - Monday in the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time
[Isaiah 1:10-17 and Matthew 10:34 - 11:1]Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me!
One of the admonitions I can recall my parents giving me in my small hometown upbringing was, "Remember who you are!" It was meant to call my attention to the fact that I did not represent myself alone, but my whole family in whatever I did. This admonition could be one of several when the occasion was an important one, but it extended to everyday and everything. Today's gospel scripture is a list of "last minute" instructions to the disciples before Jesus sets them free to preach and heal. He warns them to make the mission their top priority (even more than family) and to expect hostility and opposition (even from family). Then he points out to them that their mission is not really THEIRS but HIS. This is why he says, "Whoever receives you receives me....." The implications of this are profound. A true disciple must have an integrity of person that identifies the disciple with Jesus' mission. One does not have to be "perfect" to be a good disciple, but others should be able to recognize Jesus' preaching in our own! Those who become Extraordinary Ministers of the Eucharist are reminded that they are giving the body and blood of the Lord to others. The same is true for any disciple who makes the kingdom of God known to someone else. When the disciple is "received," the Lord is received! Pope St. Leo the Great put it well when he said, "Christians! Realize your dignity!" Our baptism into Christ, which for so many of us occurred in infancy, confers a great dignity on us - not a pompous or perfectionist attitude. The world is longing for God. Can God be "received" through us? Remember who you are! AMEN
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