…If you are a person of faith… Cling to that faith. Embrace it. Hold on to it. Allow no one to take it from you. It is yours. Own it. Bask in it. Give thanks to God for it!
When we think of Jesus’ followers we usually think of the twelve disciples (only later called, “apostles,”) but there were more…
Many more…
Luke speaks of the seventy (or seventy-two) whom Jesus sent out…
If you add like I do, put down your 4 – and one and seven equal 8, that’s like 84 and a whole lot of disciples…
A whole lot of “unnamed, unknown” disciples…
This was a kind of “internship program,” a “training time” while Jesus was still with them.
The mission was the same as Jesus’ own ministry: “cure the sick” and “say to them, ‘the kingdom of God has come near to you.’”
Jesus sends them “ahead of him … to every town and place where he himself intended to go.”
He is “on his way to Jerusalem” and will probably travel through villages where “he has not been before.”
Rumors of what Jesus is doing have undoubtedly spread into Samaria so the emissaries or disciples will announce his coming…by giving the people a preview of “his own work.”
It is also “a preview of the ministry” Jesus gives us today.
We too, go “ahead of him,” bringing “his message” wherever we go…including, right here in this place! It is up to us to share the good news with others!
…To share “the faith” that is within us…
“The harvest is plentiful” (Jesus said) is as true today – as it was in Jesus’ time.
In questionnaires that ask about “religious affiliation” today the “nones” are the fastest growing group.
That would be none spelled, N-O-N-E, as in no religion. None!
Church attendance is down-all-over the place, especially among “young people.”
One of the characteristics of today’s so-called “postmodernism” is that people come up with “their own religious views,” not wanting to willingly accept what others believe…
But “the WORD” still needs to be shared…
THE WORD still needs to be preached and shared.
The harvest is humungous!
St. Teresa of Avila’s well-known saying, reminds us that “now we carry on the ministry” that Jesus gave to us—
“Christ has no body on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours.”
“Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out to the world.”
“Yours are the feet with which he is to go about doing good.”
“Yours are the hands with which he is to bless others now.”
Very simply put our faith needs to be shared with others. Not only with words, but with our actions, as well!
That harvest is getting daily bigger and bigger.
Will you share the faith that is within you?
Will you give thanks for the faith that has been entrusted to you?
May you be blessed, even as you are a blessing for others…I pray it is so.
Amen.