Word to the Wise
Wednesday, July 12, 2017 - Wednesday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a and Matt 10:1-7]"Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" [Matthew]
There seems to be a built-in tension in the Gospel According to Matthew between reaching out to "the lost sheep of the house of Israel" and "pagans." This tension is presented in today's gospel scripture when Jesus sends out the Twelve (possibly representing the original twelve tribes of Israel) and instructs them to focus on Jewish people and not pagans or Samaritans. Given the probable composition period for this gospel [post 70 A.D., after the destruction of the temple] and the predominantly Jewish audience that it presumes, the description of the "mission" may reflect the debate caused by St. Paul's mission to the Gentiles and the questions raised about the role of the Mosaic Law in Christian life. Tradition assigns the death of St. Paul in Rome in the mid-60's A.D.
Pope St. John Paul II caused an interesting stir when he called for a "New Evangelization." This "new evangelization" would not be aimed at non-Catholics but at Catholics who have "fallen away" from the church. In the United States alone, the second largest Christian denomination has been shown by surveys to be "former" Catholics! A refocusing of the preaching efforts of the church to reach our brothers and sisters who no longer practice the faith represents a recognition of failures on many levels. Certainly among the problems are included poor preaching, the sex abuse scandal, the way power is exercised who gets to exercise it, and failures in the outreach of pastors to parishioners. There is much to be done. The "lost sheep" of our church have many stories to tell us. Do we know any? Can we invite them to "rediscover" the church and be reconciled? Many of us have our own complaints and experiences to share. The New Evangelization offers every one of us who are baptized and practicing Catholics an opportunity to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. AMEN
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