For the last several weeks in our Sunday Masses, we have been hearing Jesus teach us about faith. We heard about how, if we can start out of with an amount of faith as small as a mustard seed, that faith can grow and flourish like that small seed that is able to grow into a huge plant. We heard about the disciples being encouraged on their journey of faith when they were in the midst of a terrible storm, when Jesus demonstrated his power and calmed the storm. We also heard about the faith of the woman suffering from hemorrhages, who believed that she would be cured of her affliction if only she could touch Jesus’ cloak.
Our faith is not meant to be guarded and kept to ourselves, which is why after hearing these Gospel stories about faith, we hear Jesus sending out the disciples to be missionaries and to evangelize the world. While thinking about the Gospel today, a few things came to my mind about our faith and about our life of discipleship.
First, we might ask ourselves: why would Jesus tell his disciples to bring so few things with them on their journey? Well, we all know that different things can weigh us down on our journey. That is most evident when we going backpacking and have to carry everything with in our backpack. Everything little matters when we carry things with us. Not just physical things, but the emotional burdens and worries we carry with us as well. Jesus wanted the disciples to realize that the message of the Gospel was the most important thing. He did not want anything else to distract them or take them away from their focus of communicating that message and evangelizing the world.
Another thing that came to mind: the difference in being a disciple and in being an apostle. Each of us as Christians are called to be disciples. The word "disciple" comes from the Latin verb “discere” - which means to learn. A disciple hears Christ’s message, learns from him, accepts his teachings, and lives out his teachings in his daily life. A disciple follows in the footsteps of Jesus.
However, an apostle is not only a follower of Jesus, but he is an evangelizer of Jesus' message as well. Hopefully, that is a message that you all hear from us priests preach about frequently: that we ALL are called to be evangelizers of Christ’s Good News. The word "apostle" has Greek origins - "apostolos" - meaning “one who is sent” by his superiors, an envoy or messenger or ambassador. Through our baptism, each one of us had a mission to share our faith with others.
The other important aspect of an apostle - is sharing our own faith experience of knowing Jesus with others. As apostles, we share more than words, ideas, and doctrines; we also share our experiences of God and of Jesus. As evangelizers, we are called to invite others to share in the experience of Jesus - Christians and the non-baptized alike. Think about this: we are all here today because someone shared their faith with us. We are expected to do the same.
Jesus tells us that as evangelizers that we are not always going to be welcome, but that we should just move on to the next household and to shake the dust off our feet if we are not welcome. In our first reading today, the prophet Amos is told to leave Bethel, that the message he has to deliver is not welcome there. Amos responds by saying that it was not his idea to become a prophet, that he was just a simple shepherd and caretaker of trees. However, while working as a shepherd, God called him to be a prophet to Israel. We may sympathize with Amos. We may say: I am just a nurse, or a school teacher, or an accountant, or a salesperson, or a truck driver. God is calling me to be an evangelizer? Indeed, as a baptized disciples of Christ, we are ALL called to be evangelizers. We are all called to invite others to come to know Jesus, to share our faith with them. For sure, we will not always get a warm reception. But there will be those who we welcome the Good News we have to share with them. Christ works in us and through us, but we have to allow him to do so.
Being sent out by Jesus is not easy, that is for sure. Let us think of ways we can do this in our daily lives. In the workplace. In school. In our neighborhood. In our everyday lives.
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