Word to the Wise
Wednesday, September 6, 2017 - Wednesday in the 22th Week in Ordinary Time
[Col 1:1-8 and Luke 4:38-44]WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017. WEDNESDAY IN THE TWENTY-SECOND WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME [Colossians 1:1-8 and Luke 4:38-44] At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, "To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent." [Luke] The evangelist Luke gradually lays out the various "credentials" of Jesus. So far, we have seen that he teaches with authority and has power to cast out demons. In today's passage, his healing ministry is presented in the form of Simon's mother-in-law and anyone brought to him from the area. Of course, this attracts attention to the extent that the crowds want to keep him there. But the evangelist Luke also portrays Jesus as a man with a mission that drives him toward Jerusalem. This sense of mission is something that we can easily lose sight of in our own lives. Our baptism commissions us as "missionary disciples" (in the words of Pope Francis). Perhaps we will not become itinerant preachers as I have, but the temptation to hoard the faith (as the crowds wanted to do with Jesus) must be resisted. Opportunities to bear witness are not lacking in daily life. A resolute sense of mission is basically an intentional faith, which the recent parable in the Gospel According to Matthew about the servants and the talents illustrated. Our faith (and Jesus) are not private possessions but a public trust. Will we be found to be trustworthy? AMEN