July 9, 2014 Wednesday
14th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading:
Hos 10:1-3, 7-8, 12
Gospel: Mt 10:1–7
Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority over the unclean spirits to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first Simon, called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon, the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, the man who would betray him. Jesus sent these twelve on mission with the instruction: “Do not visit pagan territory and do not enter a Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. “Go and proclaim this message: The kingdom of heaven is near.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
While resting from work late in the afternoon, five government workers saw a beautiful lady walking on the road they were repairing. They whistled at her like enamored gentlemen but she pretended not to hear. Instead she continued walking, this time with more grace to be more attractive and captivating. Finally the men shouted: “Keep off the pavement, the cement is still wet!
This anecdote helps us go deeper in our reflection on God’s call. Without a relationship with God, a person is not responsive to God’s call. He may hear God calling but he misinterprets the call and ends up destroying God’s plan just the same. There is no resonance in values and no synchrony of wills. The ears hear but the mind interprets the call with a worldly paradigm. The Apostles responded positively to Jesus’ voice calling them to the mission because of that pre-existing disciple-Master relationship. Judas betrayed Jesus because he was a thief and his relationship with Jesus was skin-deep.
Jesus too is calling us by name – the name carved on the palm of his hands (Isaiah 49) with the nails of crucifixion. God calls us for so many reasons: to tell us how much he loves us, to give meaning to our sufferings, to share with us bountiful blessings, and to invite us to become blessings to others. The first is about election (he calls us to love us), the second vision (he calls us to give meaning to our sufferings), the third adoption (he calls us to share with us bountiful blessings) and the last is mission (he calls us to become blessings to others).
Whether the call is in view of such election, vision, adoption or mission, we must strive to cultivate deep relationship with Him in order to respond appropriately to that call. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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