The Word God Spells

Matthew 10: 1-7
Hos 10: 1-3. 7-8. 12 / Ps 105: 2-7

. . . preach as you go, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’
(Matthew.10:7)

All testify to the goodness
Of God in every life revealed.
We’re apostles called to witness
How our salvation was fulfilled.

Jesus called His twelve apostles and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every infirmity. The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. These twelve Jesus sent out, charging them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And preach as you go, saying, `The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ (Matt.10:1-7)

Reflection

If we look at the profiles of the twelve apostles that Jesus chose to be the first leaders of His kingdom here on earth, we notice that they were just ordinary people. None of them possessed special talents or recognizable leadership qualities. In fact, their leader, Peter, was just a bungling humble fisherman who displayed little faith or courage. Three others were also fishermen by trade: his brother Andrew, and the sons of Zebedee, James and John. Matthew was a tax collector, and Simon the Zealot was an activist against imperial Rome. Judas Iscariot, who was a friend of Jesus, was the treasurer of the group, but he couldn’t be trusted with their money. We have little information on the background of the other apostles, but they were most likely ordinary Galileans who lived in humble villages like Nazareth or Capernaum.

Jesus picked simple folks to be His witnesses so that the people might see the wonders of God manifested in their lives once they had been transformed by the Holy Spirit. Their low stature in society was also meant to send God’s message of hope to the poor and underprivileged. As Jesus had said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Mt. 5:3).

Today’s Gospel also sends us the message that if God could employ lowly folks who had no wealth, position, formal education or connections to spread His Good News of salvation, how much more for us who are businessmen and professionals, who have people under our influence or jurisdiction? Shouldn’t we also do our share in proclaiming the Gospel? We no longer have to undergo the kind of martyrdom that the apostles and early saints of the Church had to suffer, as the age of religious persecution is long gone. But we will still encounter strong resistance from the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” as the apostles did, because of the present generation’s crass materialism and culture of greed. We hold on to the words of Jesus that ‘the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Mt. 10:7). His followers represent the kingdom of heaven, therefore we should have nothing to fear.

We have the lives of Your saints and apostles as models to follow, Lord Jesus. Through their prayers may we follow their example, as we too are sent forth to share Your Word to others, bearing the hope that we will one day join them in the banquet of Your kingdom. Amen.