Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Later in St. Matthew’s Gospel Jesus sends the apostles out to “the ends of the earth.” Yet here at the beginning of the apostolic mission they are given a narrower mandate — to their own people. This method reminds us how tempting it is to expect those “others” to change. Those pagans and Samaritans need to get their act together! But, no, Jesus is saying that the first target of any talk about conversion has to begin with ourselves. We are called, as the Twelve were, to be apostles, or as we say nowadays, missionary disciples. But our starting point has to be our own conversion to be more compassionate, forgiving, generous, loving. Only after we have begun (for we can never truly be finished) our own transformation into people of the kingdom of God will we have the credibility to proclaim that kingdom to others.
JULY102024
By Church Staff
