July 08, 2015
Wednesday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Gen 41:55-57; 42:5–7a, 17–24a
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
Jesus had a mission he didn’t want to accomplish alone. He summoned people to his company and empowered them with authority to drive out demons and heal diseases, and commissioned them to evangelize the world. We read this commissioning not only in today’s Gospel reading from Matthew but also in the Gospels of Luke and Mark. In Matthew’s version we read today, there is a special emphasis on the number of Apostles (twelve). Israel had twelve tribes too. Matthew emphasizes this number to beam the spotlight on Jesus’ authority to call the twelve tribes of the Chosen People to the kingdom of God.
Matthew does not indicate that Jesus empowered his apostles to convert people. He empowered them to heal and to announce that the kingdom of heaven was at hand. The empowerment to convert others came later after the resurrection when Jesus said “Go and make disciples of all nations…” Much later Jesus empowered them to teach when he said: “teach them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).
Matthew’s version is a good template of discipleship. Before attempting to convert others, it is best to start as healers and busters of evil. We can heal wounds with the balm of forgiveness. We can start weakening the forces of evil by falling out from the ranks of Satan’s minions. Changing ourselves means one devil less in society. Furthermore, changing ourselves will make us credible converters of others. We won’t even have to preach on their faces. Actions still speak louder than words, and our self-reform will be too loud for others to ignore.
Jesus had a mission he didn’t want to accomplish alone. By healing others and busting evil in society we become Jesus’ credible partners in his mission of evangelization. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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