20190710 A
REALISTIC AND FOCUSED MISSION
10 JULY, 2019,
Wednesday, 14th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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Genesis
41:55-57,42:5-7,17-24 ©
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Joseph's brothers in his power
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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.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
32(33):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.
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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!
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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!
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Gospel
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Matthew 10:1-7 ©
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'Go to the lost sheep of the House of
Israel'
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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.’
A REALISTIC AND
FOCUSED MISSION
In the gospel, Jesus sent out the Twelve
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.” Many may wonder why Jesus limited the mission of the apostles
simply to the people of Israel and forbade them to go beyond Palestine.
Was Jesus being narrow-minded or exclusivist? We also remember the
incident when the Syrophoenician woman came to Him for help to deliver her
daughter from the demon and He said to her, “I was sent only to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel.” (Mt 15:24)
In truth, Jesus was
being focused on His mission. His vision of restoring the Kingdom of God
was clear. He knew His
mission was broad and universal. At the beginning of His mission, He
cited from the Prophet Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because
he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to
proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set
the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” (Lk 4:18f) He knew He was called to
be the light of the nations. St Matthew, citing from Isaiah, described
how Jesus began His ministry by withdrawing from Galilee, leaving Nazareth to
settle down in “Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and
Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah
the prophet: the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the
sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who were sitting in
darkness saw a great light, and those who were sitting in the land and shadow
of death, upon them a light dawned.” (cf Mt 4:12-16)
But Jesus was
realistic. He had to begin first with His own people. He knew He
could not do it alone or in His time. Surely He had read the prophet Isaiah which
says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up
the tribes of Jacob and to restore the survivors of Israel; I will give you as
a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
(Isa 49:6) So He did what He could within
the limits and constraints He was in. When possible and when the
opportunity presented itself, He would reach out to the Gentiles, as in the case
of the Centurion (cf Lk 7:1-10) and the
exorcism of the Gerasene Demoniac. (cf Mk 5:1-20) He was not so rigid in His
plans as to be prevented from reaching out to the Gentiles, as in the case of
the Syro-Phoenician woman. But He did not intentionally go out to
proclaim the Good News to the Gentiles.
He knew that the time
had not yet come to reach out to the Gentiles. He had to begin by
gathering and forming His apostles to help in the mission. That was what He did right at the outset
of His ministry. Jesus summoned His twelve disciples whom He named
apostles, namely, “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.” Jesus knew
that the Kingdom could not be built in a day. He Himself had told us,
“With what can we compare the kingdom of God? It is like a mustard seed,
which, when sown upon the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on
earth; yet when it is sown it grows up and becomes the greatest of all
shrubs, and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can make
nests in its shade.” (Mk 4:30-32)
It is significant that
in choosing the Twelve, He called them from all walks of life, different social
status, holding different religious and political views. Jesus knew that if His mission were to be
accomplished and reach out to all peoples, He needed apostles of different
mindsets, backgrounds and social status to connect with the larger group.
He needed the apostles who were fishermen to speak to the simple people.
He needed the tax-collector, Matthew, to bring Him into the company of the
tax-collectors. He needed revolutionaries like Simon the Zealot and Judas
to connect with those who were looking for political revolution.
Jesus did not bring in only those who were like-minded and of one social class
and holding the same views. He was courageous and had great foresight in
bringing a diversity of talents to work with Him so that the message could be
made relevant to all, and cut across all social classes and ideological
viewpoints.
Next, He proceeded to
form them. The apostles were called to be with the Lord. St Mark wrote, “And he appointed
twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to
proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.” (Mk 3:14) Apostles are those who are
sent. Just as Jesus was sent by the Father, He sent the apostles out in
His name. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” To be sent
means that we are to represent the One who sends us. An apostle, like an
ambassador of a country, does not speak in His name but in the name of the One
who sends him. He is given the authority and power of the One who sends
him. An apostle is not exercising that authority in his name but the one
who sends him.
The time for them to go
out to the whole world would be after His death and resurrection, upon
receiving His Holy Spirit. He
gave them the instruction, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given
to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the
name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always,
to the end of the age.” They could not do it earlier because they were
not yet filled with His Holy Spirit. But after the resurrection, Jesus
said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any,
they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are
retained.” (Jn 20:22f) This
power to forgive sins takes the place of the baptismal commission in John’s
gospel. In the final analysis, the apostles were given the power to
reconcile man with God and with each other; and to bring about healing and
restoration. From then on, it was clear that after Pentecost, the mission
was to reach out to all the Gentiles.
We have much to learn
from Jesus in the way He formulated His vision and mission. The weakness of most organizations lies in
that they have broad visions and broad missions. They want to do
everything and end up doing nothing well. They lack focus. By
trying to do everything and getting involved in all activities, we lose our
direction, exhaust our energy doing things that are not critical to our vision,
and end up in frustration, and discouragement. So whilst it is good to
have a broad vision, our mission must be clear, focused and realistic enough
for us to make it happen. Without a clear vision and a focused mission, our
members and collaborators will be dissipated, divided and lose their zeal.
Joseph also accomplished
his mission by being focused.
He too had dreams of being the leader of his brothers. He said, “There we
were, binding sheaves in the field. Suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright;
then your sheaves gathered around it, and bowed down to my sheaf. Look, I have
had another dream: the sun, the moon, and eleven stars were bowing down to
me.” (cf Gn 37: 7, 9) This caused his brothers to be
jealous of him. He was eventually sold by his brothers. But he did
not forget his dreams. He did not give up in spite of the unfortunate
events that followed. But he stayed focused on his dreams.
Eventually, he gained the trust of Pharoah and became his second in
command. Joseph waited to rise in power and authority. He was
patient in allowing God’s plan to unfold in his life. He was wise enough to
gather food for Egypt during the seven years of plenty so that the people would
not go hungry during the next seven years of famine. Like Joseph and
Jesus, we, too, must be discerning, prudent and patient in working out the
mission that the Lord has entrusted to us. Whilst keeping an eye on the
larger vision, we must work with a focused mission until the opportune time
arrives for us to extend the scope of our mission.
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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