Homily, 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Homily, 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time -- Msgr. Joseph K. Ntuwa

Readings: Exodus 19:2-6a; Romans 5:6-11; Matthew 9:36-10:8

We have entered the Ordinary Time again, a time of living and growing in our faith. Sometimes, it is a relief to get back to ‘regular life’ after a vacation or a time of celebration. In a way, the stretch of the liturgical year between now and the first Sunday of Advent is our longest time of “regular life” within the Church. We refocus on the everyday joys and challenges of living life in Christ. 

Today we hear Jesus tells his disciples “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few”. For some reason, today's Gospel selection stops before we hear Jesus tell the disciples to take nothing with them for the journey. Perhaps the last instruction, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give," summarizes the idea that what they are to do does not come from their own expertise, but from the transforming grace of who they have become with Jesus.

Although it is not emphasized, today's Gospel reveals a great deal about Jesus. While we are not surprised by his compassion for troubled and abandoned people, we gain a great insight as we hear him tell the disciples to pray for workers to respond to the needs that he saw. Jesus turned and gave his disciples the power to take up his mission. 

What must those disciples have thought when Jesus told them they too could take command over evil spirits and heal the sick? What were they picturing when he suggested that they would cleanse lepers and raise the dead? 

When we read the rest of Matthew's story, we hear Jesus warn them about all the dangers they would face — dangers that became all too real for them after the Resurrection. Whatever they felt, whether excitement for the adventure, fear or a sense of inadequacy facing what seemed to be expected of them, they went out. At some point, they must have felt a bit like their ancestors about whom we hear today, people loved beyond measure — and charged with a vocation precisely because they were so loved. 

Our first reading from Exodus invites us to observe God telling Moses just how precious this people was. God commanded Moses to remind the Israelites of how they had been cared for — borne away from the Egyptians as if by eagles! All this just so that they could be God's own, a special treasure, the dearest on earth. And God explains that none of this is just for themselves. They are God's chosen because of what they are to become for others — a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. As the beloved of God, they were responsible to make God present to the rest of the world. 



There's a practical spiritual dynamic in both of these stories. Whether we think of Israel or the disciples, we note they were being invited to experience God's love in the most realistic way. However, it was not enough to sit back and bask in warm feelings. That would be self-indulgent. 

Choice is a privilege and an honor, but it is also a responsibility. The Israelites were chosen to be the light of the nations. The apostles were chosen to help Jesus with harvest. And through baptism, we too are chosen. Though the harvest is immense, there is no need to be discouraged. We can’t do everything, but we can do something. Let us exercise our role as a priestly people and intercede before God for all who do not know God, for those who have grown cold in their faith, and for all who are suffering from the lack of love in the human community. Grace does not exist as a private possession. Share your goodness and the mission of the Lord!