“Tell All Around You of the Great Love of God.
When All Else Fails, Use Words.”
Today’s Gospel continues the messages of the readings we’ve heard for the last ten days or so and goes hand in hand with the current daily selections from the Holy Rule. We get glimpses into Jesus’ practice of conferring extraordinary responsibility on ordinary people. For instance, consider the amazing features of Jesus’ ministry in His choice of closest disciples. They are hardly the kind of people we’d choose to put on a ministry team: fishermen, a former tax collector, a couple known to have quick tempers, a revolutionary and a traitor. Some were always getting into trouble, missing the point of Jesus’ teachings, putting a foot in the mouth. At times, they revealed their jealousy when folks outside their circle got too close to Jesus or when so-called outsiders were trying to perform healings. When the going got tough, most of them walked away or denied their commitment to Jesus. Despite all this, Jesus used them to turn the world upside down. Doesn’t knowing that give us cause for hope?
Readings from the Rule of Benedict remind us three times annually that our founder picked up on Jesus’ theme when he reminds his followers to be satisfied with what the monastery has to offer. The monks “must not eat with outsiders, unless perhaps the superior has ordered it.” Concerning their clothing, Benedict recognizes that a monk’s everyday clothes – the clothes on his back – might disgrace him in public. He directs that the members should not come across as though they were better than the people they encountered. Is he saying that we need not dress like the poor in order to minister to them? We show respect for others by wearing attire which in an unspoken message conveys ‘You are special, I value you and so I made a special effort in my appearance to be with you.’ You’ll notice also that when Jesus sends His new missionaries out, it’s always in the plural: in pairs, two by two showing that His mission, our mission, is a communal endeavor.
And, when Jesus told the disciples to shake the dust from their sandals if they found themselves in a village where their message was rejected, this was not something new. Jews often did this when they returned from a foreign land across the border back into their homeland. It represented a total disassociation from pagans and pollution.
Jesus did not limit his power to His little company of disciples. He gives us, too, the grace to carry His message to the world. We may feel inadequate but Jesus’ power rests in us and on us. Jesus assures us “Don’t worry about what you are to say. At that moment, the words will be given to you” (Matt 10:19). As one of our hymns says: “His love and grace, that’s enough for me!”
Surely you remember St. Francis, the son of a wealthy merchant who became known as the poor man of Assisi. He serves as an example of a Christian who responded to God’s call: “Repair my Church.” Asking another friar to accompany him to preach to the townspeople, the two walked together through the streets and returned home without ever uttering a word. Questioned by the friar as to when they would begin to preach, Francis replied, “We just did. Tell all around you of the great love of God. When all else fails, use words.”
This is the kind of pilgrimage 40,000 believers are taking along four (4) routes that lead to Indianapolis for the 5-day Eucharistic Congress that begins on July 17th. Staff from our diocesan pastoral center, and over 100 Tampa Bay parishes, will be gathering in Indianapolis for liturgies, impact sessions, concerts and other faith-filled experiences culminating in a Eucharistic Procession through downtown Indianapolis. Let us pray daily this week that pilgrims may travel in safety and that their lives may be enriched by their experience.
Join us as we pray in spirit with the pilgrims at the Congress. Choose your own prayer time or slip away for a few minutes at the times the Sisters will be at prayer.
EUCHARISTIC REVIVAL
Join Crusade: Pray 10,000 Holy Hours in July
Optional Holy Hours in union with pilgrims
At The Eucharistic Revival Congress
Tuesday, July 16 (travel Day) 4:45 p.m. + Vespers
Wednesday, July 17 10:45 a.m. + 11:15 Mass
Thursday, July 18 3-4 p.m.
Friday, July 19 6:30 + Compline
Saturday, July 20 4:30 p.m. + Vigil Service
Sunday, July 21 4:30 p.m. + Evening
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
First Reading: Amos 7:12-15 Second Reading: Ephesians 1:3-14
Gospel: Mark 6:7-13
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