Our Holy Fathers Amphilochius, Bishop of Iconium (4th c.) and Gregory, Bishop of Agrigentum (7th c.); Post-feast of the Entrance of the Mother of God.
Nativity Fast.
Read
2 Corinthians 11:1-6; Luke 9:1-6
The commissioning of the twelve apostles by Jesus in Luke’s gospel receives a scant six verses, yet we can say that this is one of the most significant passages for the Church in understanding its mission in and to the world. Our Lord sends forth the apostles to preach the kingdom of God and to heal. These two components are the basis for Our Lord’s own public ministry before His passion, death, and resurrection, that Paschal mystery which ultimately brings about both the fullness of healing and the full revelation of the kingdom. We might say that this gospel passage offers the first instance of the apostolic church’s evangelizing mission.
Brothers and sisters, in considering the continuing call to evangelization today we must recognize that the success of this mission is not dependent upon our material possessions, or upon our intellect, or upon our physical abilities, but rather upon our faith in Christ and our obedience to His call. This call to evangelize is also about trust: trusting that Our Lord will give us the words to reach people and draw them to the Gospel. In trusting Our Lord, we must also be willing to proclaim the Gospel in places and to people who we may think will reject it out of hand. To evangelize is not to stay within the safe walls of our Christian home or to remain sitting in the comfortable pew. To evangelize is to go, like the apostles, into the highways and byways of our lives and engage those whom the Holy Spirit brings into our path proclaiming the good news to them. Some will accept this message and others will reject it, but we cannot know fully who will fall into which camp. Our Lord has perfect foreknowledge and knows who will cooperate with Him. Our task is to invite those around us who are yearning for truth to encounter the Risen Lord and, please God, to be healed so that we might journey together to become co-heirs of Christ’s kingdom.