ELEVENTH SUNDAY In Ordinary time: A.
Jun 15, 2008

Exodus 9: 2-6 Psalm 100 Rom 5: 6-11 Matthew 9: 36-10:8

“A people of God.”

We do not have a common theme joining any two readings in our Liturgy of the Word. There is no point in trying to force one. We do have three separate pictures coming from each of the three readings. They have to do with different aspects of the life of the People of God.

1. The Exodus reading portrays a priestly people. They are formed by God who has brought them out of the hands of their enemies from Egypt. They are cared by God through the wilderness. God provides them with food and drink. They are on the verge of becoming a covenanted people. God will give them the 10 commandments on the Mount of Sinai.

This passage is so similar to 1 Peter 2: 1-10 where Peter describes in the New Testament a priestly people. He will say you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people set apart. As a priestly people they are called to offer a sacrifice. They have a special calling and dignity. But it is not a single individual but the whole people - each man, each woman and each child together, they offer to God a pleasing sacrifice. It is a sacrifice of thanksgiving, a sacrifice of praise, a sacrifice of petition, a sacrifice seeking pardon.

2. The Letter to the Romans paints us as a people who have been forgiven. The first three chapters as we have seen on the past two Sundays show that we are sinners. We have no excuse for our sinning. The laws of God are written in nature and in our hearts for those who are Gentiles, and besides these, for the People of Israel they have the commandments received on Mount Sinai.

There is nothing we can do to make up or propitiate for our sins . There is a great gulf between God and us sinners. God will take the initiative. God is always the first to make a start. This should put into perspective Religious Orders and Congregations who worry because their numbers are dwindling. We should have vocational drives. But we should always remember the purpose of Orders and Congregations. It is for God’s purpose and God will achieve this.

We try to plug our mission statements and mottos: “ad maiorem Dei Gloriam” for God’s greater glory or “ora et labora” or Franciscan simplicity and poverty. These do not draw people to Congregations and Order. God’s call is the initiative and beginning. Paul highlights this idea when he describes our condition.

· While we are still ungodly people,

· while we are still sinners,

· while we are still enemies of God,

God chose to love us and Jesus will die for us. We are people who are loved and therefore forgiven - and not the other way around.

3. Our Gospel shows us a people who are called by God for a Mission. Jesus sens the disciples forth. Now this a Post Easter picture. It is after Jesus ascends to the father. It is after they receive the Holy Spirit. But this commissioning of the Apostles is so important to Matthew, that the Gospel writer puts it even before Easter.

The traditional Rabbi was usually a leader to whom students and disciples flocked. The Rabbi would choose those who had ability and qualifications. Jesus was not traditional in that sense. He did not wait till disciples flocked to him. He went out and chose them. He chose them from unlikely places. They are unlearned, they are ordinary, they are even despised like Matthew the tax collector. Some of the Disciples would not meet in ordinary circles. You had Nathaniel, the Israelite without guile and Simon who was a zealot and wanted to overthrow with violence, the current Roman leaders. Their philosophy and way of behaving were poles apart. Once again, it is God who takes the initiative.

4. Jesus then introduces graphic images to introduce the mission.

• There are sheep who are confused and abandoned. They need a shepherd
• There is a harvest that is ripe. There is need of labourers.

The mandate is clear: proclaim the good news. This is to be accompanied by healing. The lame, the blind, the deaf are to be cured. That is still the mandate today. Unfortunately we all too often proclaim the Good news, but stop short of healing. Remember it is God’s calling. God does the work. God takes the initiative.

After Easter, they will proclaim Jesus who had been crucified and rose from the dead. Now they are to proclaim Jesus who was living and who had come to bring us the Good News. This was a Jesus who was sent by the Father and in whom the Father is well pleased. We are called to continue the Work to which God calls us.