12/3/2011 – Homily for Saturday of the first week of Advent – Matthew 9:35-10:1; Isaiah 30:19-21, 23-26

       In today's Gospel, we hear how Jesus' heart was moved with pity for the crowd that was gathered around him in the towns, the villages, & the synagogues. He was touched by those who were troubled & abandoned, for they were like sheep without a shepherd.  The Greek word that we translate into Jesus being moved by pity literally mean that he was moved & stirred up all the way down to his stomach & his guts, that he actually had a physical gut reaction to the sufferings of the people. 

       So, if we are to have Jesus as our model for ministry and our model for a life of faith, if we are sent like by Jesus like he sent out his disciples to the various towns & villages to proclaim the kingdom of God through word & action, what does this really mean for us?  Part of our reflection during this Advent season should include an examination of how we are living out our faith, as we hear Jesus challenge us & motivate us in today's Gospel.  Jesus empowered those first disciples, just as he is empowering us to spread his Good News throughout the world. 

       Listen to the final words of today's Gospel: “Without cost you have received, without cost you are to give.”  What an incredible gift we have received in our faith, in the new life we have received in Christ.  Yet we too are to give in return, in many different ways: in the practice of justice and kindness; in the way we acknowledge and serve; in the way we love others in the same way that God loves us. 

       As we coninue on our journey during Advent today, may we be challenged to open our hearts to the ways Jesus is sending us out to spread the Good News to others.