In today’s Gospel Jesus sends the disciples out two by two
with instructions to take nothing with them except a walking stick and the
authority over unclean spirits. It was a
faith walk. We have all been on them to
some degree. Where they were welcomed,
they could stay. Where they were not
welcomed, they should move on and “shake the dirt from their feet” meaning they
should leave everything, even ill sentiments behind. They went and preached repentance, drove out
demons, anointed, and cured the sick.
Jesus is the eternal Word of God that came and lived among
us. He is the fullness of God’s
Revelation to us. Our faith is the free
affirmative response to God’s calling to us.
Grace is God’s life in us. God’s
love for us, as through the Son, is limitless.
Living our faith, like the disciples do when he calls them on their
journey, is saying “yes” to Jesus’s call to bring the reign of God. This reign of God is His saving love fully
manifest in the world. We this transmitted
to those who have faith, to the disciples, to us. Miracles are only one sign of
this love, and we hear about them a little today as the disciples share the
reign of God through their call for repentance and to receive God’s love. It is an affirmation too that although God is
everywhere, although temporarily limited in His human form, we are likewise
called to share in His work. By professing God, by sharing the teachings of
Christ, the disciples were publicly professing their faith. We are called to do that too. This is one of the reasons that we state our
creed, our beliefs at mass. The
Catechism of the Catholic Church states, “Whoever says ‘I believe’ says, “I
pledge myself to what we believe.” (CCC 185)
In the first reading today we meet David and Solomon. Solomon receives the kingdom to rule and
keep. They are our examples of men of
faith. Both, like us are sinners. The difference is that David, as many bad
things as he did, repented of his sins and asked God forgiveness. He received the gift of humility. We do not see that with Solomon. So which do we use as our example today when
we hear the call to follow the Word of God? Are we ready to go with as little as the disciples, except for our great faith?
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