Word to the Wise
Thursday, July 7, 2011 - Thursday in the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5 and Matt 10:7-15,1010]As you go, make this proclamation, 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give.
Along with the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus' commission to the apostles amounts to the very first seminary curriculum! Of course, it was not put in writing simply for the apostles, many of whom may have been deceased by the time this gospel was put into writing. The commission is directed to all who were in the community where this gospel arose AND to all of us who try to live out our baptismal call of faith in our own times.
To the Sermon on the Mount and the commission to the apostles, we would need to add the list in Matthew 25 from the scene of the Last Judgment: Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, etc. When all of this is put together, it constitutes a very big challenge. In another translation, the phrase, "Without cost....." says "The gift you have received, give as a gift!" We may consider the challenge of the Kingdom to be a very demanding gift! We may not be able to imagine ourselves going without our wallets door to door to say: The Kingdom of heaven is at hand! We probably do not imagine ourselves as raising the dead or driving out demons! One would hope we can imagine ourselves as feeding the hungry, etc..... There are opportunities for us all in Jesus' commission. The challenge comes from finding the courage to make the first step toward a deliberate and intentional effort to live our faith in public and not simply in the pew on Sunday. AMEN