Mt 9:36-10:8
Dear Friends, We have just finished our communal celebration of the Pascal Mystery with added celebrations for the Trinity and Eucharist. In that special time, the love of God in Christ Crucified and Christ Risen shines before us. We were called to share the overwhelming love and mercy of God. It was our invitation to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. This special time was our passage through the debris of life, through the pull of our selfishness and through our ever-expanding search for happiness.
Now, our liturgical journey switches to Ordinary Time. For the next twenty four weeks we will delve into the Gospel of Matthew. It will invite us to make our search for meaning, our search for justice and, most of all, our search for that very elusive love that lasts forever. Each Sunday, we will meet Jesus once again in the wonderous gift of the Liturgy. This journey with Jesus will be an encounter of faith. We will bring our daily experience to the Word of God. We will be challenged to slow down and open our hearts to the presence of God in our daily struggles. We will be offered a weekly gift of Jesus calling us away from our confusion and distractions. This call of love will open our hearts to a God who passionately loves us. In fact, there is no way this God could love us more. Our weekly encounter with Jesus in the season of Ordinary Time is calling us into the extraordinary time of mercy and love. Jesus will lay before us the continuing gift of forgiveness and merciful love leading to eternal life.
In today’s gospel selection, we see Jesus moved to awe-inspiring compassion for the sick and suffering, stirred by the pain of others and by the hunger and thirst of the crowds. His heart aches with concern for the alienated, marginalized and all of burdened humanity.
If we open our eyes and cast off the false security of our consumer-driven and materialistic culture, we will be able to see ourselves much in need of Jesus’ compassion. An open and uncluttered heart will let us see the marvel of God’s intense concern for our dire situation. We find ourselves engulfed in deceiving attachments and a reality immersed in a mortality we deny with obsessive intensity.
We read in today’s gospel text: “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36)
Jesus calls the twelve to share his ministry of witnessing to the kingdom with healing and service. This kingdom is God’s plan to restore our original innocence. This will be the beginning of the elimination of sickness, hatred, isolation, racism, and every other form of prejudice along with the beginning of justice, peace and the reign of love. Most of all, we will grow to appreciate and embrace the victory over death.
Today we are called to both receive and share that loving response to human suffering, isolation and marginalization. Jesus wants us to help and heal. Jesus wants us to share in the unleashing of the power of love that is the Father’s reign.
The task of the kingdom is love, love for God and love for our neighbor. If we are honest in responding to Jesus’ call, we can truly make a difference. Not all of our pleas will be heard and not every heart we approach will be healed. However, our effort, no matter how seemingly inconsequential it may appear, will be wrapped in divine love. It will be like the mustard seed that blossoms beyond human comprehension. We have been sent. We are not by ourselves. Jesus makes it ever so clear, “I am with you always.” (Mt 28:20)
Now, our liturgical journey switches to Ordinary Time. For the next twenty four weeks we will delve into the Gospel of Matthew. It will invite us to make our search for meaning, our search for justice and, most of all, our search for that very elusive love that lasts forever. Each Sunday, we will meet Jesus once again in the wonderous gift of the Liturgy. This journey with Jesus will be an encounter of faith. We will bring our daily experience to the Word of God. We will be challenged to slow down and open our hearts to the presence of God in our daily struggles. We will be offered a weekly gift of Jesus calling us away from our confusion and distractions. This call of love will open our hearts to a God who passionately loves us. In fact, there is no way this God could love us more. Our weekly encounter with Jesus in the season of Ordinary Time is calling us into the extraordinary time of mercy and love. Jesus will lay before us the continuing gift of forgiveness and merciful love leading to eternal life.
In today’s gospel selection, we see Jesus moved to awe-inspiring compassion for the sick and suffering, stirred by the pain of others and by the hunger and thirst of the crowds. His heart aches with concern for the alienated, marginalized and all of burdened humanity.
If we open our eyes and cast off the false security of our consumer-driven and materialistic culture, we will be able to see ourselves much in need of Jesus’ compassion. An open and uncluttered heart will let us see the marvel of God’s intense concern for our dire situation. We find ourselves engulfed in deceiving attachments and a reality immersed in a mortality we deny with obsessive intensity.
We read in today’s gospel text: “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, sheep without a shepherd.” (Mt 9:36)
Jesus calls the twelve to share his ministry of witnessing to the kingdom with healing and service. This kingdom is God’s plan to restore our original innocence. This will be the beginning of the elimination of sickness, hatred, isolation, racism, and every other form of prejudice along with the beginning of justice, peace and the reign of love. Most of all, we will grow to appreciate and embrace the victory over death.
Today we are called to both receive and share that loving response to human suffering, isolation and marginalization. Jesus wants us to help and heal. Jesus wants us to share in the unleashing of the power of love that is the Father’s reign.
The task of the kingdom is love, love for God and love for our neighbor. If we are honest in responding to Jesus’ call, we can truly make a difference. Not all of our pleas will be heard and not every heart we approach will be healed. However, our effort, no matter how seemingly inconsequential it may appear, will be wrapped in divine love. It will be like the mustard seed that blossoms beyond human comprehension. We have been sent. We are not by ourselves. Jesus makes it ever so clear, “I am with you always.” (Mt 28:20)
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