20150708
THE CHURCH’S MISSION BEGINS FROM WITHIN TO WITHOUT
Readings at Mass
First reading
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Genesis
41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24 ©
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When the whole
country of Egypt began to feel the famine, the people cried out to Pharaoh for
bread. But Pharaoh told all the Egyptians, ‘Go to Joseph and do what he tells
you.’ There was famine all over the world. Then Joseph opened all the granaries
and sold grain to the Egyptians. The famine grew worse in the land of Egypt.
People came to Egypt from all over the world to buy grain from Joseph, for the
famine had grown severe throughout the world.
Israel’s
sons with others making the same journey went to buy grain, for there was
famine in the land of Canaan. It was Joseph, as the man in authority over the
country, who sold the grain to all comers. So Joseph’s brothers went and bowed
down before him, their faces touching the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers
he recognised them. But he did not make himself known to them, and he spoke
harshly to them. Then he kept them all in custody for three days.
On the
third day Joseph said to them, ‘Do this and you shall keep your lives, for I am
a man who fears God. If you are honest men let one of your brothers be kept in
the place of your detention; as for you, go and take grain to relieve the famine
of your families. You shall bring me your youngest brother; this way your words
will be proved true, and you will not have to die!’ This they did. They said to
one another, ‘Truly we are being called to account for our brother. We saw his
misery of soul when he begged our mercy, but we did not listen to him and now
this misery has come home to us.’ Reuben answered them, ‘Did I not tell you not
to wrong the boy? But you did not listen, and now we are brought to account for
his blood.’ They did not know that Joseph understood, because there was an
interpreter between them. He left them and wept.
Psalm
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Psalm
32:2-3,10-11,18-19 ©
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May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
Give thanks to the
Lord upon the harp,
with a
ten-stringed lute sing him songs.
O sing him a song
that is new,
play
loudly, with all your skill.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
He frustrates the
designs of the nations,
he
defeats the plans of the peoples.
His own designs shall
stand for ever,
the plans
of his heart from age to age.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
The Lord looks on
those who revere him,
on those
who hope in his love,
to rescue their souls
from death,
to keep
them alive in famine.
May your love be
upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
Gospel
Acclamation
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James1:18
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Alleluia, alleluia!
By his own choice the
Father made us his children
by the message of the
truth,
so that we should be
a sort of first-fruits
of all that he
created.
Alleluia!
Or
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Mk1:15
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Alleluia, alleluia!
The kingdom of God is
close at hand:
repent and believe
the Good News.
Alleluia!
Gospel
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Matthew 10:1-7 ©
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Jesus summoned his
twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to
cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.
These are
the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his
brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and
Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus,
and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray
him. These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows:
‘Do
not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go
rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that
the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’
THE CHURCH’S MISSION BEGINS FROM WITHIN TO WITHOUT
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“These
twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Do not turn your steps to
pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go rather to the lost
sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of
heaven is close at hand.'” Why did Jesus restrict the mission to
His own people? Indeed, some scholars question whether Jesus intended
that the gospel be spread beyond Palestine. How was it then that the
disciples did not observe this command of Jesus? This was also an issue
in the early Church regarding the admission of the Gentiles. We read in the
Acts of the Apostles, the early Church was struggling as to how they should
deal with gentile converts and on the other hand, the rejection of the Jews to
the gospel.
Obviously,
Jesus was not against reaching out to non-Jews. The case in point is the
Syro-Phoenician woman who asked Jesus to heal her daughter. Although
Jesus initially rejected her request, yet, because of her faith and persuasive
argument that even the house dogs can have the left overs from the table, He
relented and healed her daughter. Of course we have other examples of
Jesus reaching out to the pagans. He healed the centurion’s Servant and
also performed miracles at the Decapolis region. Also, at the end of the
gospel, which was written in the light of the resurrection and reflecting the
practice of the early Church, all the evangelists recorded Jesus commissioning
the Twelve to preach the gospel to all nations and to baptize them in the name
of the Holy Trinity. St Mark even spoke of the signs that accompanied the
preaching, which was written as a post resurrection narrative. This
commissioning came only after they encountered the Risen Christ and had
received the Holy Spirit, the love and power of God in person. So
it is clear that in the mind of the early Church the gospel is be proclaimed to
all of creation, not just to the Jews, but it presupposes a Christ-encounter.
How,
then, do we understand Jesus’ command, as it seems that the disciples were
acting contrary to Jesus’ instructions? The context and intention of Jesus
commanding them not to go out of Palestine was because in the plan of God, the
Good News was meant to be given to the Jews first, as the chosen people of God,
and from them to the world. Hence, before sending them out to the world,
Jesus wanted to evangelize His own people. This principle still holds
even for the Church today. Before evangelizing the world we must first
begin by evangelizing ourselves. This is why the Year of Faith was
proclaimed in the context of the synod on the New Evangelization. Unless
Catholics are first evangelized, they cannot proclaim Christ to the world.
What
does it mean to re-evangelize our people? How is this mission to be carried
out? The gospel says, “And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is
close at hand.” How is this done? By proclaiming the Kingdom
of God, not in words but in actions. Proclamation of the gospel is not
primarily the teaching of doctrines but to give people a personal encounter
with Christ in a concrete way. The Good News is more than words but
primarily works. The disciples were instructed to heal the sick and cast out
unclean spirits.
Yesterday,
we read in the gospel how Jesus went about healing the sick, casting out evil
spirits and feeding the hungry besides teaching them. The Good News is
basically the love and compassion of God made real today. Regardless, teaching
without accompanying actions will not suffice. That is why St Francis of
Assisi told his disciples to preach the gospel and, only if necessary, use
words. People encounter God in their daily lives in events like the psalmist
who prays “May your love be upon us, O Lord, as we place all our hope in you.
The Lord looks on those who revere him, on those who hope in his love, to
rescue their souls from death, to keep them alive in famine.”
Above
all, what is even more important is the work of reconciliation in the
proclamation of the Good News, reconciling men with each other and with
God. The gospel at the end of the day is the gospel of
reconciliation. This is what St Paul wrote as well. More than
anything we need to reconcile man with God so that man is reconciled within
himself, leading to his reconciliation with his fellowmen. All miracles
seek to express and lead men to this reconciliation. Similarly, Joseph in
the first reading shows God’s love by forgiving and reconciling with his brothers.
Does it
mean that the mission to the world is not necessary? Of course not!
Once we are evangelized, we will desire to share the Good News with the whole
world. Only because Joseph received God’s blessings could he share his
blessings with the pagans. Once we have received God’s love, we can then reach
out to others in love. In conclusion, we are called to renew, to
re-appropriate and to rediscover our faith so that we encounter His love, which
in turn will propel us to proclaim His love to the world. In the work of
the New Evangelization, the priority is to renew the faith of our Catholics.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh
Roman
Catholic Archbishop of Singapore
©
All Rights Reserved
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