14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gospel – Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Marching Orders

Walking Stick

Sunday May 17, 2015!  10 years ago! That was the day my 13 brothers and I were ordained Permanent Deacons.  We had spent the previous 4 years in formation – Scripture classes, homiletics, moral theology, church history and Sacraments, Canon Law and spirituality, Christology and Ecclesiology, service projects and field work and practicums, particularly Presiding at Rites and Rituals!  4 very full years of classes and tests and prayerful reflection!

But it was on that day, May 17, 2015 that we got our marching orders!  We each knelt before Bishop Kane and grasped the Book of the Gospels as he prayed over us!  "Receive the Book of the Gospel whose herald you have become. Believe what you read. Teach what you believe. Practise what you teach."

At some point in our lives, we have all received our ‘marching orders’.  Maybe it was when we moved into high school and we were given more responsibilities at home.  Maybe it was moving into our first apartment or buying our first home.  Maybe it was moving away to college or changing jobs or careers.  Maybe it was moving out of state or getting married!  We all got our marching orders!

Throughout Luke’s Gospel, Jesus has been preparing His Apostles to go off and spread the Word.  Today He gives them their marching orders – all those do’s and don’ts.  Don’t bring any extra clothing, no money, no food, no sack, no extra pair of sandals, just a walking stick.  Go out and cure the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons.  And wherever you go, always greet people with a sign of peace.  And if people will not accept the Word, then just move on and continue the mission. 

Notice that His first instructions revolve around what not to bring.  The intention is clear.  Simplify your life and your possessions.  Don’t get distracted by all the enticements of the world!  Focus only on what you really need, on what is really important!  Don’t worry so much about clothing or money or comfort.  Keep your eyes on the mission!  And God will take care of the rest!

We are all called to that same mission.  Maybe we won’t be healing the sick or driving out demons or raising the dead.  But we are all called to spread the Word, to share and live out our Faith.  And we are all called to do so in peace.  

Greet others with a sign of Peace!  That should be very familiar to us.  At every Mass, we are invited to share a sign of peace.  And at the very end of Mass, when we are sent back out into the world, it is with PEACE!  The Mass is ended; go in PEACE.  Go in PEACE glorifying the Lord by your life! 

Those words are also OUR marching orders!  Our mission!  Our daily mission!  To go forth in peace and spread the Good News!

By virtue of our Baptism, we have all been given our marching orders.  To live out the Gospel, to believe what we read!  To teach what we believe! And to practice what we teach, in our words and actions!  To stay focused on the mission!  And remember – travel light! 

Great Spirit, help me to appreciate the mission you have given me.  Let my mind be clear to hear your voice and peace-filled to share Your Word.   Aho! 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
Tuesday - Third Week of Easter Gospel – John 6:30-35 Knead to Know Cooking Class Over the past month or so, I gathered together a couple groups of my altar servers for a cooking class!   They learned not only my recipe for zucchini chocolate chip muffins but how to make them from scratch!   And, YES, they took home their finished products, or at least the muffins they didn’t wolf down as soon as they came out of the oven!   It was a fun, wonderful (and messy) experience!   Who knew that cracking eggs and measuring out flour could be so ‘untidy’.   But it brought home the lesson that, in order to get those yummy muffins, it takes time, effort and a heaping cup of patience. And it reminded me not only of their loyal service but those long months of Covid when they missed their Mass ministry.   So from time to time during the pandemic, I stayed in touch with them by dropping off goodie bags filled with chocolate chip cookies, zucchini chocolate ...
Read more
Image
  Feast of the Presentation Gospel – Luke 2:22-40 We Are Family Church of St. Joseph, Nazareth 5 extremely short stories to start the day! Once all the people in a village decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer, all the people gathered, but only one boy came with an umbrella. That is faith. When you throw babies in the air, they laugh because they know you will catch them. That is trust. Every night we go to bed without any assurance of being alive the next morning, but we still set the alarm to wake up. That is hope. We plan big things for tomorrow in spite of zero knowledge of the future. That is confidence. We see the world suffering, but still, we get married and have children. That is love. Faith, hope, love, confidence and trust!   Sounds like a perfect list of values/virtues for a happy family! Today’s Gospel tells us of another family – the Holy Family going up to Jerusalem with the baby Jesus to present Him to the Lord in ...
Read more
Image
  Second Sunday of Easter   Gospel – John 20:19-31 Faith and Family Us Decades ago, when Jaime was maybe 7 or 8 years old, I was having some stomach issues, bad enough to spend some time in the hospital to figure out what was going on.   Finally, one morning, with Jaime and Ginger in the room, the doctor comes rushing in to tell me in these overly blunt words – you have cancer, we will perform surgery today and start you on chemo treatments tomorrow!   After I got over the initial shock, I basically had 2 reactions!   First, how dare you blurt out such a diagnosis with our little daughter in the room without even consulting us beforehand.   How disrespectful! How insensitive!   And secondly, my personal health, or lack thereof, was the last thing on my mind.   All that mattered to me was Ginger and Jaime and how all this would affect them! Some things never change!   Truth be told, after all that stress and worry, his diagnosi...
Read more