Jesus
appointed 72 of his disciples to be missionaries and emissaries of his Gospel
message. He sends
them out two-by-two to go ahead of him to the towns and places he is about to
visit. In
many ways, those 72 disciples represent us. Those 72 disciples represent the
whole Church and our parish community as well. I
imagine that those 72 were not all in the same mold – they came from many
different walks of life. They had many
different personalities and many different gifts. I
think of all the different vocations we have in our parish – just to name a few
- student, teacher, spouse, parent,
ordained clergy, medical professional, friend, political or civic leader,
craftsman. All
of us in the various vocations we have in life can open the way for others to
meet God or to grow in their faith. Being
a priest or a nun or a deacon doesn’t mean that one has a more important
vocation in the Church – all of us are called to the vocation of discipleship
in the reality of our lives.
The
Gospel message of Jesus sending his disciples out into the world should not feel
like a burden to us. It is
the opposite of a burden: Jesus invites us today to share in his joy and hope;
we are invited no matter where we are on our journey of faith. Some
of us right now may feel the Gospel message filling our hearts with conviction
and courage, with joy and enthusiasm.
Others, conversely, may feel disheartened or overwhelmed or unfulfilled
or empty where they are on their journey. Some
of us may need a profound conversion or a leap of faith to get us back on
track. But
no matter where we are, Jesus calls out to us today.
These
summer months are the time to go on vacation, to relax and to get away with
family and friends. I
remember when I lived up in Canada, we used to go on retreat as a group of
missionaries to a cabin in the Lake of the Woods in western Ontario – what a
beautiful opportunity that was to admire the beauty of God in his
creation. I
remember those crystal clear lakes where we would canoe – the surface of the
lake was like glass. One of the lay
missionaries loved to skip stones on the lake, and he was so good at it. The stones would send ripples that would go
out throughout the lake, reaching out in a wide circle that reached the edge of
the lake. The
whole surface of the lake is transformed as the ripples spread. In a
lot of way, that stone entering the surface of the lake is like Christ entering
human creation as his coming into the world spreads outward over the world and
over the eternity of time.
The
ripple affect of a stone hitting the water is a good image of how Luke portrays
the spread of Christ’s ministry in the world. Born
in that humble stable in Bethlehem, Jesus grew up and began his earthly
ministry in and around his hometown. He then
formed a group of disciples and sent them out to the world to spread his Good
News. After
Christ’s death and resurrection, the disciples started in Jerusalem and then
spread into Judea, Samaria, across the ancient Mediterranean world and beyond
to the ends of the earth.
As I
was meditating on today’s Gospel of Christ’s disciples being sent out into the
world, along with our country’s celebration of Independence Day this Monday, I
thought about John F. Kennedy, our first Catholic president, who as a part of
his inaugural speech, challenged all Americans: ““ask not what your country can
do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” When I heard that saying as a boy growing up,
it always exemplified for me what the American spirit was about, about what our
Christian faith is about, reaching out beyond ourselves to others. In an
era when a lot people are more worried about what they can get for themselves,
Kennedy’s words are still very fresh and relevant. Rev.
Daniel Coughlin, the first Catholic chaplain in the US House of
Representatives, saw Kennedy’s words as being rooted in his sacramental outlook
on the world, with his entire inaugural speech being framed in Kennedy’s belief
in a living and ever-present God. So how
does that outlook pertain to us today? Reflecting upon Kennedy’s words as they apply to us as disciples of Christ in
our parish here in Tupelo, we can think about what we can do in our parish, how
we can spread the Gospel both here in our parish and our community. And to quote our parish’s mission
statement: How are we called to be
disciples of Christ? How are we called
to make disciples of Christ?
When we presented our Status of the Parish
report last week, we mentioned that we are working on short-term and long-term
goals for our parish. We hope to present
them to our parish in September. There
are two goals that I have in mind that I think are really important for us as a
parish to live out in our discipleship. First,
I really, really want us to be as welcoming a parish – as welcoming as we can be. I
want everyone who walks into the doors of our church to feel a warm welcome
from our community, no matter who they are. While
we need to reach out to everyone and meet people in the reality of where they
are, we also need to make a concerted effort to specifically reach out to the
children and youth and young adults. That is a personal priority of mine as a
priest. So many youth and young adults
are leaving the Church today. We need to
reach out to them and show them that we really care, that the Church if for
them and relevant to them. With the
mercy and love of Pope Francis, and they way we want to reach out to them as a
parish – that should be a great message for them today.
The
disciples in today’s Gospel took their calling and mission very seriously. May we all answer the call to be the laborers
in the Lord’s harvest. May we answer the
call to bring God’s peace to our own corner of the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment