Word to the Wise
Saturday, December 3, 2016 - 1st Week of Advent - Sat
[Isa 30:19-21, 23-26 and Matt 9:35-10:1, 5a, 6-8,]"Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." [Matthew]
St. Francis Xavier was one of St. Ignatius of Loyola's first disciples and one of the greatest of Jesuit missionaries. The words today from the Gospel of Matthew are taken from what is called "the missionary discourse." The list of things that Jesus empowers the disciples to do is rather amazing to us. But we should not be daunted. We too are empowered by our baptism to make the same proclamation of the Kingdom of heaven. We too can see the people who seem "troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd." The Advent and Christmas seasons seem to magnify troubles.
The sight of all those people moved Jesus with pity. This is what Pope Francis has been preaching over and over. We may not go to the Far East as Francis Xavier did. We may only go next door. We may not cure anyone, but we can help them cry. From our own resources we can draw all that any missionary has to give: the assurance that God loves us. Isaiah's words today carry that kind of assurance as well: The Lord will give you the bread you need and the water for which you thirst. No longer will your Teacher hide himself, but with your own eyes you shall see your Teacher, while from behind, a voice shall sound in your ears: "This is the way; walk in it," when you would turn to the right or to the left.
If we can overcome our shyness and reluctance to reach out in faith as "missionaries of mercy," a great many people will have not only a good Christmas, but a lot more than that. They will have hope. Without cost we have received. Without cost we can give. AMEN
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