This commission by the Lord Jesus for His Twelve Apostles had two purposes:
He Himself was God’s promised Saviour, and this proximity of Israel’s salvation
had to be proclaimed both immediately and emphatically to God’s Chosen People; and,
corresponding to God’s fulfilment of His
promise, the covenanted People themselves had to show authentic repentance for
their sins against God’s Law. At the
same time, the apostles were also being prepared for the commission Jesus would
give them after His Resurrection, a commission to preach His Good News to all
mankind.
Let us look at this preparation of the Apostles. Above all they needed to gain confidence in
the Lord Who was sending them out on their first mission, because this mission
to the Jewish people would be much easier than the one to come, which He would direct to the relatively sophisticated pagans
of the Roman Empire, and then to the ignorance and violence of the largely uncivilized
world beyond.
Jesus, however, apparently made this original mission to the
People of Israel more difficult for His Apostles by His injunction:
To take nothing for the journey except a staff -- no bag, no
bread, no copper in their money belts -- but to wear sandals, and not to put on
two tunics.
However, on their return, when Jesus asked them (Luke 22:35):
I sent you out without money bag, knapsack, and sandals, did you
lack anything?" They said, "Nothing."
It was evident that their experience on this first mission to the
People of Israel had been such as to give them confidence that the Lord would
be with them in all their future endeavours for the glory of His name among the
nations.
Today the Catholic Church continues the mission of the Apostles,
and the work required of her is still the same: a sublimely holy work to be
done in the name and for love of the Lord Jesus, trusting in His Gift of the Holy Spirit; a work for the fulfilment of His
Father’s plan for the salvation of mankind.
However, her mission is becoming less widely focussed on foreign nations, because ‘home
nations’, where the faith has been long known and was once loved, are now returning
to sin being blatantly practiced for physical self-satisfaction, and for ‘soul-secret’ pride, both social and
personal.
The response of men and women of our times and indeed, of all
times, can be set out as Jesus put it before the Twelve. First of all, we might note that, according
to St. Luke (10:3), Jesus warned them that He was sending them out:
As lambs among wolves.
People of God, there is something there which modern Catholic
people should be most clearly and humbly aware of, namely, that for Jesus --
and He certainly wanted His disciples to have the same attitude as Himself --
those who received the Apostles sent in His name were the ones receiving a
blessing, and they were the ones who should, ultimately be most truly grateful.
This appreciation is confirmed for us when Jesus goes on to tell
His Apostles:
Whoever will not receive you or hear you, when you depart from
there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.
Such a symbolic gesture of shaking off the dust from their feet in
testimony against that place and the people living there would serve as an
indication that the ‘ban of the Lord’ was resting upon that place.
In the legislation of the book of Deuteronomy, the people of
Israel were instructed (13:17):
Nothing from
that which is put under the ban shall cling to your hand.
The Rabbis’ teaching explained that anything of this sort,
clinging to a person, was metaphorically called “the dust”: for example, “the
dust of an evil tongue”, “the dust of usury”.
With such a background we can understand the significance and awesome
threat implied in the Lord’s command to His Apostles:
Shake off the
dust under your feet as a testimony against them.
Who would, however, be so foolish as to incur the ban of the Lord?
That, of course, our first reading taken from the book of the
prophet Amos showed us;
Listen to Amos speaking (3:15) in the name of the Lord of others
in the Northern Kingdom:
I will destroy the winter house along with the summer house; the
houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end.
Obviously, prominent Israelites of the Northern Kingdom ignored
the word of the Lord because they were engrossed with their enjoyment of the ‘dolce
vita’: winter and summer houses as splendid as if they were made all of ivory;
and just listen how they lived it up!
Woe to you who lie on beds of ivory, stretch out on your couches, eat
lambs from the flock and calves from the midst of the stall; who sing idly to
the sound of stringed instruments, and invent for yourselves musical
instruments like David; who drink wine from bowls, and anoint yourselves with
the best ointments, but are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. (Amos 6:4-7)
People of God, you know very well that there are many so-called
Catholics and Christians in our modern and prosperous Western society who, in like
manner, are relatively replete with – and wholeheartedly delight in --
possessions and pleasures, power and prestige; and, though being ‘believers’ by
reputation, they have no concern for the well-being of Mother Church. Anxiously seeking the approval of men in all
things, they have no confidence or trust in the Word of the Lord. Will the ‘ban’ of the Lord be on them? Was it on the luxurious Israelites in
Samaria? Hear the prophet’s words:
(They) are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph, therefore they shall now
go captive as the first of the captives, and those who recline at banquets
shall be removed. (6:6-7)
That, People of God, is the background to Our Lord’s words to His
Apostles:
Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from
there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them.
Oh! dear People of God, compare Our Lord’s directions for those
ministering His grace to the lost
sheep of Israel with some prescriptions in parts of Mother Church today which
almost beg people to come to church, to receive the Eucharist and other
sacraments – notably baptism and confession – as it were at bargain prices (!)
or even no cost at all (!!), traditional requirements of holiness being watered
down or washed away, supposedly to demonstrate modern love! Love of a sort indeed, but not Jesus’ love;
rather is it that human emotionalism
which imitates and would destroy true spiritual devotion, seeking neither Gospel fidelity nor Christian charity,
but social acceptance and popular approval above all!
But what are the promises of the Lord? What are the blessings He wants to bestow on
us; what are the blessings reserved in heaven for those who embrace His Gospel
and, by His Spirit, live through love in and for Him? Listen to our second reading again:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, In Him we
have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins; in Him we have
obtained an inheritance. In Him you also
trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in Whom
-- having believed -- you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, Who is
the guarantee of our inheritance to the praise of His glory.
Elsewhere Paul -- finding himself quite unable to express the
wonder of our calling and the blessings that await us -- simply contents
himself with quoting the Old Testament prophet Isaiah:
Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart
of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, may those promises be fulfilled, those blessings be bestowed, upon you who are now listening to the Word of the God with faith and who will later go out from this gathering enriched with Jesus’ grace to enable you to seriously try to live your daily lives with authentic Catholic love and devotion.
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