Today’s Gospel tells us how Jesus sent the disciples out two by two to preach conversion and gave them authority over the spirits that enslaved and oppressed the men and women of that time. He asked them to go with what was enough for the journey. The most important thing they would carry was the message and everything else was secondary.
That mission project, set in motion by Jesus is still on the go today. Twenty centuries of the Mission of the Church witnessed men and women, who left their land, leaving behind the securities and comforts of their native land and people, to preach the Gospel. They have not always been well received. Many of them met with violence and death. But many others were welcomed with open hearts and in the countries that received them they spent their lives in the service of their people, educating their children, caring for the sick, liberating the oppressed and giving joy to the sad.
Thus the missionaries, in everything they do they always carry a unique message: that God has blessed us in Christ with all kinds of graces, that in him He has chosen us to be holy in love, that he has destined us to be his children, that in him he has forgiven us all our sins. It is God’s will to gather everyone in Christ, to make us all one family. This is the message that missionaries carried to far off places as well as to their own families and friends.
The Missionaries of the past give us this important message —Mission begins at one’s own home, among one’s own people: because it is possible that in our homes and among our people, there may be people who are unaware of this message of salvation, who allow themselves to be carried away by sadness and lack of hope.
This Sunday’s readings teach us that the mission of the Church belongs to each member of the Church, and we are all missionaries. We are all responsible for bringing the proclamation of God’s love, the forgiveness of sins, and the Kingdom of salvation to those who do not know it, to those who live without hope. It is not necessary to know many languages or to have high academic qualifications. What is important is to live as witnesses of God’s love and to share that love with those who live with us. Follow the instructions on becoming a disciple and miracles will follow! You will heal the sick, save the people from the possessions of the “demons” that oppress the lives of the people
For your reflection
Do you think that there are people near you who do not know the message of salvation that Jesus offers us? What does it mean in concrete terms to be witnesses of God’s love for these people? What attitudes should we have and what actions should we take to be witnesses of this love before them?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
