Word to the Wise
Sunday, June 18, 2023 - 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time - A [Pentecost 2011]
[Exod 19:2-6a; Rom 5:6-11; Matt 9:36-10:8,]"You shall be to me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." [Exodus] Then [Jesus] summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness...... Jesus sent out these twelve after instructing them thus, "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.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." [Matthew]
In the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus' initial mission is to the "lost sheep of the house of Israel." [cf. Matt. 15:21-28]. It is significant that he chose twelve disciples from among those lost sheep to be his closest collaborators. The number of tribes Moses led in the desert was twelve. To this day, we speak of the "twelve apostles" or "the Twelve." We are then given the curriculum of the first seminary!!! The disciples are to become an extension of Jesus' own ministry of healing. This would be more than "curing." It would mean restoration and proclamation of the "kingdom of heaven." The universal charge to go to all nations would occur after Jesus' death and resurrection. [Matt. 28:16-20]
The witness of the Twelve would become the foundation of the church. We proclaim this whenever we recite the Nicene Creed at the Eucharist or the "Apostles' Creed" at the beginning of the rosary! That group of twelve was a mixed bag, to be sure. But consider their ultimate results in terms of today!!! Although we proclaim the "apostolic succession" with regard to leadership in the Body of Christ, the mission of Christ is entrusted to all of us as baptized believers. We may not be as dramatic in our ministry as the first disciples were able to be, but there are many ways of healing and preaching the kingdom of heaven. The very word "apostle" means someone who is sent to bring a message. Pope Francis merely echoes Jesus' charge when challenging all of us who are baptized to be "missionary disciples." It is an everyday and lifetime vocation. AMEN