Dear Friends,
The Church in its totality, in all of its members, has a missionary task. Love of God and love of neighbor
are one in the eyes of Jesus. The commission he gives to the disciples in today’s gospel is for all of us. No
member of the body of Christ is alive for himself or herself alone. Each of us has a service to perform for others.
Most specifically to those who are only potential members, those who need to hear the words of Jesus for the
very first time. Ministry in the Church is not limited to those who are ordained. The Church is not like a
government system where we elect people to do certain jobs for the rest of the group. Each of us knows a
neighbor or family member who needs to hear what Jesus has to say.
Listen again, to the command to those original disciples, “Jesus summoned the Twelve and began to send
them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the
journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. They were, however, to wear sandals but
not a second tunic. He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave.” Do you think you
could have done that? Doing this kind of work is not for those with puny faith or feeble self-confidence. Rather it
calls for patience, acceptance and a generosity of spirit so that the essential wonder of the message of Jesus can
be shared. Jesus did not send out a group of people to simply “do good.” By their radical trust in the work of God
in their life, they could actually change people’s lives. The simplicity of their clothing and baggage was to help
them and others see that the only one we need to depend upon is God.
So many people in our world do not know the message of Jesus. They confuse the message with the bits
and pieces of religion that they heard about growing up. Most of it is wrong. If we are going to be like those
original disciples, it requires us to help people who do not know God to move from the possibility of a God
existing “out there” to realizing that this God does exist right here in people’s hearts and minds. By helping
people to recognize the action of God in their lives and the relevance of God to their lives, you can help them
begin to understand the Gospel message.
Each Sunday on the front of the bulletin, we have a quote from St. Frances Cabrini. She said it to the
women who joined her religious community (and I think she is saying it to each of us at this parish), “You are
the bearers of Christ’s light to the world.” That is your mission my friends. That is the mission of every member
of our parish. You are to bear Christ’s light to everyone you meet. Just like those original disciples. Doing so,
you will invite people to know Jesus, you will help them understand that they are beloved children of God, you
will help them move from unclean spirits to the powerful Spirit of God.
Pope Francis, at a gathering of the World Council of Churches in June, sounded a similar theme. At the
meeting, he affirmed the work they were doing in helping churches work together, but he also raised a concern.
The concern, said Francis, “comes from an impression that ecumenism and mission are no longer as closely
intertwined as they were at the beginning. Yet the missionary mandate, which is more than … the promotion of
human development, cannot be neglected nor emptied of its content,” the pope continued. “It determines our very
identity. The preaching of the Gospel to the ends of the earth is part of our very being as Christians, in the face of
the recurring temptation to tailor it to worldly ways of thinking; we must constantly remind ourselves that
Christ’s church grows by attraction.”
You are sent out to attract others to Jesus. This is your mission. This is what Jesus invites you to do with
him. You are his light to those who live in darkness.
Peace,
Fr. Damian