Matthew 9:36-10:8 NRSVue
36When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
1Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee and his brother John; 3Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus and Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Cananaean and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
5These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not take a road leading to gentiles, and do not enter a Samaritan town, 6but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’, 8Cure the sick; raise the dead; cleanse those with a skin disease; cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment.
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Some thoughts on this scripture
Reflection
Put together the first reading: /You will be my chosen people, and you will
serve me as priests/, with the last: /The harvest is great but the labourers
are few./ In Europe and North America ordained priests are few, many parishes
are priestless, and seminaries are half-empty. Is there is message here from
God? We all share the priesthood of the faithful that is ours through
baptism: we are given there the role of serving the Christian community in
any way we can. Even where fewer priests are being ordained, the church is
thriving in some places where the Christian community is reduced to basics.
Reflection
Lord, I ask you for the courage and the opportunity to be active in my
community, and to make it a growth-point of Christian living.
Reflection
This calling continues today. Jesus still calls, as he called the twelve, to
continue the loving ministry of Jesus in the world. At baptism, we receive
the water of God's love and the oil of service, completed in confirmation,
marriage and ordination. The needs of God's people are as great today as
then. In a world of addiction, suicide, confusion, poverty, injustice and
many other big needs, Jesus still looks and sees people 'like sheep without a
shepherd'. He calls each of us, male and female, young and old into his
service.
Reflection
This seems to be a really outgoing gospel: we are to look at the big harvest,
the sick, the dead, the outcasts; all the needs of people are part of prayer.
It is in care and compassion that the kingdom of heaven comes near.
Reflection
Prayer is one door into the kingdom of heaven, with a door outwards to the
world of great need. Advent is a time to notice and to respond to the needs
of people in our immediate circle as well in the wider world.