This Sunday’s Gospel invites us to reflect on Christ’s institution of the group of Twelve disciples-apostles in order to send them out later on mission. This is the initial call of the first missionaries and, as such, the episode is very rich in significant details in missionary perspective even today. Let us meditate on the three most important points.
The first detail in the Gospel narrative to reflect on is precisely the evangelist’s note on Jesus’ state of mind from which his subsequent actions depart: “At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them.” It should be remembered that immediately before, the evangelist Matthew points out that, “Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness” (Mt 9:35). Jesus’ “seeing the crowds,” then, is not of one who sits still in one place observing people, but of one who “went around to all the towns…, teaching…, proclaiming…, and curing every disease and illness.” In other words, it is about the seeing and feeling of a missionary who, aware of his being “gone forth/sent by God the Father” (cf. Mk. 1:38), always goes out to the people, stands among them and immerses himself in their lives. Jesus’ compassion, therefore, for the crowds is not a passive, detached feeling, but it is an active compassion, which translates into concrete, tireless efforts to make everyone experience the realities of the Kingdom of God. Here we see in Jesus a compassionate heart that is the basis of His mission. Such a heart will also be a model for Jesus’ disciples who will later be chosen and sent by Him to cooperate in the same divine mission.
Regarding the heart of Jesus and mission, Pope Francis left a reflection during his audience to the participants of the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies on Saturday, 03.06.2023, with the very timely words that we quote now for a deeper meditation on the topic, especially for those who are engaged in the PMS:
1. The heart of Jesus and mission. First of all, as we contemplate the heart of Christ, we discover the greatness of God’s plan for humanity. Indeed, the Father “so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). In the pierced heart of the Crucified we can discover the infinite measure of the Father’s love: he loves us with eternal love; he calls us to be his sons and daughters and to share in the joy that comes from Him. He comes to seek us when we are lost; he lifts us up when we fall and raises us from the dead. Jesus himself speaks to us about the love of the Father in this way when, for example, he affirms: “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me” (Jn 6:39).
Dear brothers and sisters, Jesus shows us this throughout his life: in his compassion for those who are wounded, in his concern when faced with suffering, in the mercy with which he anoints sinners, in his sacrifice for the sins of the world. He has shown us the heart of God, that of a Father who always awaits us, sees us from afar, comes toward us with open arms; a Father who turns no one away, but welcomes all; who excludes no one, but calls everyone. […]
We have been sent to continue this mission: to be signs of the heart of Christ and the love of the Father, embracing the whole world. Here we find the “heart” of the evangelical mission of the Church: to reach all through the gift of God’s infinite love, to seek all, to welcome all, excluding no one, to offer our lives for all. All! That is the key word. What does Jesus tell us in the parable about the wedding banquet (cf. Mt 22:1-14) – which went wrong because the guests did not come… one was concerned with his farm, another had to travel, a third was getting married, and so on – what does the Lord tell us? He says, Go to the crossroads and invite everyone, everyone: those who are healthy, sick, bad, good, sinners... all. This is the heart of mission: that “all”, excluding no one. Every mission of ours, then, is born from the heart of Christ in order that he may draw all to himself. This was the mystical and missionary spirit of Blessed Pauline Marie Jaricot, the foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, who was very devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The second important aspect of today’s Gospel is precisely Jesus’ very first recommendation to the disciples, when He had compassion on the crowds “troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd,” “so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” It becomes very clear once again that prayer occupies the primary place among missionary activities, as Pope Francis reiterated again in his Message for World Missionary (Sun)Day 2022. This is more than logical because God is “the Lord of the harvest,” the Master of the mission for the salvation of humanity that Jesus accomplishes now, in the fullness of time, and then entrusts to His disciples.
It should be noted that the recommendation to pray to God is addressed to the disciples and also precedes the institution of the twelve “apostles,” that is, “sent.” This seems to highlight God as the real protagonist on whom everything of and in the mission depends, including Jesus’ action of calling the first missionaries, “laborers in his [God’s] harvest.” On the other hand, while the Twelve are a kind of first-fruits of the disciples-missionaries, all of Jesus’ disciples are invited to participate in God’s mission precisely through concrete prayer for “the harvest” and for the abundance of “laborers.” They thus share the same concern, compassion and passion of Christ for the Kingdom, which is actually that of God himself.
By instituting the first “apostles” and sending them out on mission, Jesus imparted to them his first missionary instruction, which begins with a surprising recommendation from the point of view of the universality of mission: “Do not go into pagan territory… Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” These words, however, must be understood in the overall context of God’s Word in Scripture concerning the divine plan for the salvation of all mankind. It clearly states the will of the faithful and merciful God “who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth” (1Tim 2:4). Christ Himself after the resurrection will send his disciples to all nations, to all peoples (cf. Mt 18:20), indeed, to the whole world to preach the gospel even to every creature (cf. Mk 16:15).
Therefore, the restriction of the apostles’ activities only on the “lost sheep” of Israel in that first missionary instruction of Jesus is not meant to put permanent stakes on the divine mission, but rather to emphasize above all God’s absolute and unwavering faithfulness to His promises to His people. In other words, in His unfathomable divine plan, promised through the prophets, God in Christ at the end of time, that is, in Messianic time, comes to save His people and with them the whole world. Indeed, Jesus will later reiterate His clear awareness of this divine mission in His dialogue with the pagan Canaanite woman (cf. Mt 15:24: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”), but without denying her divine grace in response to her faith. Israel was, is, and will be in God’s heart despite all her sins, infidelities, rejections in the past, present or even future (!), as He declared in truly moving words: “With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you” (Jer 31:3-4; cf. even Is 49:15: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you”).
From this perspective, the first disciples-apostles, that is, disciples-missionaries, are sent to continue the same mission as Jesus, that actually of God for the salvation of the world starting from Israel. To them, in effect, Jesus’ power over spirits and “every disease and illness” has been transferred, and they are commended the same salvific actions that Jesus, the Messiah, performed as a sign of the Messianic time: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.” And all this - I would like to reiterate again - is to be carried out with the concern for the salvation of Israel always in the heart and mind. In this regard, here is the solemn yet moving testimony of St. Paul, apostle to the Gentiles: “I speak the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience joins with the holy Spirit in bearing me witness that I have great sorrow and constant anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and separated from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kin according to the flesh. They are Israelites; theirs the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises; theirs the patriarchs, and from them, according to the flesh, is the Messiah. God who is over all be blessed forever. Amen.” (Rm 9:1-5).
These words perhaps find echo and resonance in every disciple-missionary of Christ today. And may all of us, modern disciples of Jesus, after reflecting on His actions and recommendations in today’s Gospel, feel vividly the divine concern for the few laborers in His harvests so that we may pray more and renew our vocation to continue with more zeal God’s mission in Christ to bring divine love and salvation to all mankind and with constant thought for Israel, the chosen people whom God loved for eternity.
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