BEING AN APOSTLE

 The following post concerning this Sunday's Gospel was written by Rev. Greg Friedman, OFM and was presented as a video on the NCCB  web page of the Daily Lectionary Readings.

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Jesus is the compassionate Shepherd who is moved for those who are troubled and abandoned. What’s more, he enlists his followers to act as he did. He calls twelve disciples and sends them to announce the same message which Jesus has been proclaiming and to act as he did: cure the sick raise the dead cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.

Scripture scholars suggest that today’s text shows how the apostles' mission mirrors that of Jesus, that these instructions were originally intended as practical guidelines for the itinerant missionaries of Matthew's community. Of course in preserving such a text Jesus intends for us, the successors of Matthew’s community to adopt the same missionary guidelines. 

It’s not just a job for the original twelve, nor for canonized Saints. I’m sure that those first disciples of Matthew's community did not have much difficulty identifying who needed healing or who was troubled in spirit and so we’ve got to ask ourselves. 

Preaching to the nations

How can we heal? Who among us is spiritually dead? Where are the lepers of our day? where are there demons to be cast out? We all know people who are sick and spirit live as though dead, who have been infected with the world‘s evil, 

Jesus is sending us with his power to cooperate with him in healing and in liberating If you look at the list of those first twelve, we can see that following Jesus isn’t a path of fame. It may rather lead to obscurity. Aside from a few gospel mentions and some traditions and legends outside of the scriptures. most of the disciples lives remain unknown. 

Neither do we have to be perfect to follow Jesus after all among his disciples there were those who denied betrayed and deserted him, Jesus came to sinners not the righteous, and I doubt that we can do much worse that the original twelve.