15th Sunday of Ordinary Time, Year B.
Jesus said in Luke chapter 10, verse 2, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” So after Jesus selected the 12 apostles as His own representatives, that is, as His messengers, prophets and witnesses, He sent them out in today’s gospel reading as laborers for His harvest.
Jesus summoned His newly appointed 12 apostles and gave them authority over unclean spirits. He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick and nothing else. Then He told them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.”
From Jesus’s instructions to the 12 apostles, He points out three important things we need to do to effectively and efficiently preach His gospel as His disciples. According to Jesus, firstly, we have to teach and preach His gospel with His power and authority. Since the 12 apostles were to act in persona Christi, that is, in His person, with His authority and power, Jesus gave them authority over the unclean spirits. By giving His apostles authority over unclean spirits, Jesus is teaching them as well as us, that as His followers, they have power and authority over Satan and his demons. Jesus gave the 12 His power and authority because He wanted them to rely solely on His power and authority He has given them and not on their own power and authority when the act on His behalf and when they proclaim His gospel. This is a very important point because some of us tend to preach and teach our own beliefs and ideas instead of the gospel of Christ as taught by the Catholic Church. When we teach and preach the gospel of Christ with His power and authority, we truly have power over unclean and evil spirits, but when we teach and preach our own beliefs without God’s backing and support, we are vulnerable and weak to overcome the temptations of the evil one. Also, when we teach and preach the gospel of Christ with His power and authority, we are doing what He wants us to do and we can overcome the boundaries of race, culture, religion, personal indifference, biases etc.
Secondly Jesus in His instructions to the 12 instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick and nothing else. He gave them this instruction because He didn’t want them to be distracted by anything or anyone so that they can focus on their mission as His apostles in evangelizing others. Jesus is in fact teaching us that the less “baggage” we carry, the more we can focus and concentrate on our mission of proclaiming and preaching His gospel better. We live in a world filled with many distractions, obstacles and challenges that tend to sway us away from God. In other to overcome these distractions, obstacles and challenges that keep us from faithfully sharing the gospel of Christ, we have to stay focused, committed and dedicated to our mission. This means staying away from and avoiding anything or anyone who would be a hindrance to us achieving our mission. Also since our world is plagued by the belief that defines human beings by what they have rather than who they are, Jesus is reminding us today to pay attention to how we evaluate ourselves. He is calling us to value our being more than what we own or have achieved because these might be obstacles in our mission for God in the world. This is why He told to 12 to take no food, no sack, no money in their belts on their journey.
Lastly, Jesus told them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave. Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” With these words, Jesus is teaching His disciples and us that once we have done our duty as His disciples, we should not worry about anything else but leave the rest to God. This means that we should sincerely and conscientiously do our duty as disciples of Christ with dedication and commitment, then allow God to take control of the rest.
My brothers and sisters in Christ, remember, we are children of God, beautifully and specially made in His image and likeness. Remember also that we are disciples of Christ, whose lives were purchased by the blood of Christ. So let us go out into the world and truly share Christ with others by proclaiming and teaching His gospel fearlessly and solely with His power and authority. Let us also avoid all distractions with prayer, so that we can focus and concentrate on our mission of evangelizing the world.
