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Commentary on the Gospel for September 25, 2024
Dear friends:
Jesus’s mission is clear: to announce and to heal. He came to announce the Good News and to build the Kingdom of peace, justice, health, and happiness. Jesus began this mission right there in the synagogue of Nazareth, where he made his own the words of the Prophet: “The Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor, to proclaim release to the captives, and to give sight to the blind.” It is a message that has been made flesh time and time again throughout history. We evoke a bold and subversive cry of Bishop Casaldáliga: “There are only two absolute things, God and hunger.” His friend and protector, Paul VI, formulated it in more orthodox terms, placing the absolute in Jesus and his Kingdom. And we ask for it in the Lord’s Prayer: “Hallowed be your name, give us our daily bread.
Jesus makes it clear in this text of six verses that he gave them power to heal diseases, sent them out to proclaim the Kingdom and to heal the sick, and that they went from village to village proclaiming the Gospel and healing everywhere. Healing comes before the proclamation of the Kingdom, which is curious. We know from the Gospel that sickness is synonymous with every evil, including psychological and spiritual. God wants man to live well. His programmatic discourse is a discourse of “Beatitudes.” The disciples are the continuation of Jesus. They continue his work and his word. But not at all. The Master shows them exactly what to do. First and foremost, they must be lightly packed, like the poet. “Take nothing for the journey.” The apostle doesn’t concern himself with the means; he is focused on the end of his task: God and His Kingdom. He then makes it clear that they must be hospitable, welcoming them into their homes. Jesus is aware that they will encounter difficulties, and he warns them that they may suffer rejection and lack of welcome. This is because God leaves intact the freedom of man before his proposal. However, this freedom is accompanied by responsibility. It cannot be the same thing to choose or not to choose for the Kingdom of God and its values.
All Christians are disciples and apostles. We are missionaries, and we are proud of it. Jesus sends us. If it comes from Jesus, we can be confident and free from fear and worry. We are chosen, we are blessed, and we are constituted suitable for the proclamation. This proclamation leaves us transformed. The proclamation is about the Kingdom, not the Church, not us. The content is words and works. Our mission will lack credibility without “healing.” Proclaiming the Gospel well inevitably leads to miracles. We must ask ourselves: What are the miracles and signs that make the message of Jesus more transparent? The first sign is our apostolic bearing: “without a staff, without a bag, without bread, without money.” The efficacy will not reside in the great boasts of the media, of multitudinous concentrations, of powerful figures. It will reside in the simplicity that makes us free and confident. What greater glory can we desire than to participate with Jesus in his project, in the dream of the Father over men?