Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 9, 36-10, 8
At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them
because they were troubled and abandoned,
like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples,
“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.”
Then he summoned his twelve disciples
and gave them authority over unclean spirits
to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
The names of the twelve apostles are these:
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 Thaddeus;
Simon from Cana, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed him.
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.”
Jesus goes out to proclaim and heal
1. Accessible. Jesus approaches people and makes Himself accessible. It’s this Jesus whom we have to show to others, the Jesus who approaches those who suffer. But the key to this is the word “compassion.” Compassion means to suffer with others, to suffer for others, and to suffer alongside others. Today, we live in a world of indifference. Nobody cares about anyone else, and they are indifferent to other people’s suffering. In some places, neighbors do not even know one another because they never meet. Indifference kills relationships and gives way to terrible coldness. Some people have even gone to the extreme of rejoicing at the misfortunes of others. People are afraid to get involved. Many care only about themselves and their own family. We are losing our human values.
2. Heal and soothe. Jesus shows us that He gets involved in the life of others. He invites you, as a missionary, to do that, to get involved in the lives of others but to not to gossip. Someone who’s a gossip is interested in what happens to others so as to give his opinion and tell everyone about it. But Jesus’ proposal is different. He proposes getting involved in order to heal and comfort. You can give someone a helping hand. Ask yourself: Do I get involved to gossip, or to help and heal?
3. Missionaries. We are called to look for the lost sheep. Today, it seems to me that instead of going out to look for the one sheep who is lost, leaving the ninety-nine, we must go out to look for the ninety-nine and stop worrying so much about only the one. There are more people lost than found, nowadays. Let’s move out of our comfort zone as Christians. Remember that we are “in” the world, but we are not “of” the world. We are pilgrims on our journey to heaven. There are many sad and resentful people out there who need to hear about the joy of the Gospel.
We need to show them that there is hope, that life is beautiful, that we can change beyond the sin committed and that we only have one life to live. God needs us to be an example of Jesus’ love for others. We are called to be a Church committed to healing others. Go out and approach those in need, to heal, not to gossip.
God bless you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Always remember that something good is on the way!
