DAILY GOSPEL COMMENTARY:
JESUS CHOOSES HIS APOSTLES.
(Mt 10:1–7).
Gospel of Wednesday, 14th week in Ordinary Time. Mt 10:1–7.
Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness. The names of the Twelve Apostles are these: first, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew, Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddeus; Simon the Cananean, and Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.
(5) Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. (6) Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (7) As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Gospel Commentary from the Navarre Bible, Commentary to the Gospel of St. Matthew (with permission)
- 1 Jesus summoned his Twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness.
- In this chapter St Matthew describes how Jesus, with a view to the spreading of the Kingdom of God which he inaugurates, decides to establish a Church, which he does by giving special powers and training to these twelve men who are its seed.
- 5-15 After revealing his intention to found the Church by choosing the Twelve (vv. 1-4), in the present passage he shows that he intends to start training these first Apostles. In other words, from early on in his public ministry he began to lay the foundations of his Church.
- Everyone needs doctrinal and apostolic training to follow his Christian calling.
- The Church has a duty to teach, and the faithful have a parallel duty to make that teaching their own.
- Therefore, every Christian should avail of the facilities for training which the Church offers him — which will vary according to each person’s circumstances.
- 5-6 (5) Jesus sent out these Twelve after instructing them thus, “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. (6) Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
- In his plan of salvation God gave certain promises (to Abraham and the patriarchs), a Covenant and a Law (the Law of Moses), and sent the prophets. The Messiah would be born into this chosen people: which explains why the Messiah and the Kingdom of God were to be preached, first, to the house of Israel, before being preached to Gentiles.
- Therefore, in their early apprenticeship, Jesus restricts the Apostles’ area of activity to the Jews, without this taking from the world-wide scope of the Church’s mission.
- As we will see, much later on he charges them to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19); “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to the whole creation” (Mk 16:16).
- The Apostles also, in the early days of the spread of the Church, usually sought out the Jewish community in any new city they entered, and preached first to them (cf. Acts 13:46).
- In his plan of salvation God gave certain promises (to Abraham and the patriarchs), a Covenant and a Law (the Law of Moses), and sent the prophets. The Messiah would be born into this chosen people: which explains why the Messiah and the Kingdom of God were to be preached, first, to the house of Israel, before being preached to Gentiles.
- 7-8 (7) As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
- Previously, the prophets, when speaking of the messianic times, had used imagery suited to the people’s spiritual immaturity. Now, Jesus, in sending his Apostles to proclaim that the promised Kingdom of God is imminent, lays stress on its spiritual dimension.
- The powers mentioned in v. 8 are the very sign of the Kingdom of God or the reign of the Messiah proclaimed by the prophets.
- At first (chaps. 8 and 9) it is Jesus who exercises these messianic powers; now he gives them to his disciples as proof that his mission is divine (Is 35:5-6; 40:9; 52:7; 6 1:1).
- Previously, the prophets, when speaking of the messianic times, had used imagery suited to the people’s spiritual immaturity. Now, Jesus, in sending his Apostles to proclaim that the promised Kingdom of God is imminent, lays stress on its spiritual dimension.
Today we see Jesus choosing of his apostles, giving them special powers and giving them precise instructions to announce the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus does not wait for the hour of the resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit to already trust in the active collaboration of his disciples. God has always wanted to count on men in his plan of salvation. He is not an overwhelming and crushing God, before whose effective action everyone is immediately transformed.
Rather, God believes so much in the establishment of the Kingdom of heaven and in the redemption of human hearts, that he “dares”, so to speak, to patiently count on the free response of the people He called to carry it out to make His Kingdom a reality.
Jesus is also counting on us, today, now, without waiting for a more favorable moment in which we feel more prepared and better disposed. May we say our generous “yes” right now when He passes by and asks us, convinced that God already knows how to form us into his effective and faithful apostle as long as we correspond to his grace.
A Blessed day ahead!
Fr. Rolly Arjonillo
VIDEO COMMENTARY
TOPIC: DO YOU STILL FEEL GUILTY OF A PAST SIN?
In today’s first reading (Genesis 41:55-57; 42:5-7A, 17-24A), we are in the middle of the story of Joseph, the youngest son of Jacob and Rachel. His ten brothers sold him as a slave when he was still young in jealousy of his father’s favored treatment of him. He became a slave, accused falsely and was imprisoned until his ability to correctly interpret dreams was discovered by all, especially the Pharaoh, who eventually made him viceroy, somewhat like the governor and representative of the Pharaoh.
The famine in Canaan forces the brothers to seek food in Egypt and are led to Joseph. They don’t recognize him and argue among themselves as Joseph requires them to bring their youngest brother to him in exchange for food. They blame each other for the guilt they were now feeling of disposing their brother and the punishment that has come their way.
Are there times when you feel the guilt of a past sin hounding you into sleepless nights and unrelenting anguish? Perhaps, it is not the Lord who is punishing you but yourself.
TOPIC 2: Do you make an effort to be a person of encouragement to others?
In today’s gospel, Jesus appoints His twelve apostles and commissions them to spread the good news. He tells them to look for the lost sheep and proclaim in every area they enter that the “Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus is also anointing us with this task of spreading the good news. While we may not all be able to drive out demons and heal the sick in Jesus’ name, we can be purveyors of healing of hearts. By giving of ourselves to encourage others and showing them importance as human beings, we are able to fulfll our anointing and our calling to love our neighbors as God loves us.
Let us look for opportunities to talk to people, to be a listening ear to their heartaches, to encourage them, lifting up their spirits and giving them hope.
You will never know if you have saved someone from hurting himself or herself because of depression.
Perhaps, you will only realize later on that the person you have given encouragement and hope to will also be God’s conduit of hope to others.
You will never realize that the young man or woman you have nurtured and loved inspite of himself or herself, will someday soar to achieve great things.
The good you started will be the good that will help change the world.
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