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“In union with Jesus, we seek what he seeks and we love what he loves. In the end, what we are seeking is the glory of the Father; we love and act ‘for the praise of his glorious grace.’

The word of God also invites us to recognize that we are a people. ‘Once you were no people, but now you are God’s people.’To be evangelizers of souls, we need to develop a spiritual taste for being close to people’s lives and to discover that this is itself a source of greater joy. Mission is at once a passion for Jesus and a passion for his people.

When we stand before Jesus crucified, we see the depth of his love which exalts and sustains us, but at the same time, unless we are blind, we begin to realize that Jesus’ gaze, burning with love, expands to embrace all his people. We realize once more that he wants to make use of us to draw closer to his beloved people. He takes us from the midst of his people and he sends us to his people; without this sense of belonging we cannot understand our deepest identity.”

“It is impossible to persevere in a fervent evangelization unless we are convinced from personal experience that it is not the same thing to have known Jesus as not to have known him, not the same to walk with him as to walk blindly, not the same to hear his word as not to know it, and not the same thing to contemplate him, to worship him, to find our peace in him, as not to. It is not the same thing to try to build the world with his Gospel as to try to do so by our own lights.

We know well that with Jesus life becomes richer and that with him it is easier to find meaning in everything. This is why we evangelize. A true missionary, who never ceases to be a disciple, knows that Jesus walks with him, speaks to him, breathes with him, works with him. He senses Jesus alive with him in the midst of the missionary enterprise. Unless we see him present at the heart of our missionary commitment, our enthusiasm soon wanes and we are no longer sure of what it is that we are handing on; we lack vigor and passion.”

This was quite a radical way for these first disciples to carry out their mission, but isn’t this how Jesus himself moved from town to town? He wanted to show them that it may appear that they have nothing, but what they carry with them is the important factor – their dependence on God. The reception that people in the towns would give them when they heard the “good news” of Jesus Christ would supply all of their other needs. This was a daring venture for those who were new to following Jesus, but we hear later what they did accomplish: they drove out demons, anointed the sick and cured them. All of this with so little, yet they brought with them what mattered.

This is the second week in the series on The Psalms. The presentations on July 18 and 19 will be: The Psalms: Prayer Book of the Christian Church. At Mass we pray a psalm after the first reading. Many people pray the Liturgy of the Hours or a brief form of it, and a number of psalms are included during these times of prayer. Fr. Bill Beaudin will show how the psalms have been included in the life of the church since its beginning. He will also talk about how we can use them as part of our personal prayer life. Two sessions are offered, at 12 noon and 6:15 PM.

-Fr. Andrew Reitz, O.F.M