Discipleship is Mission

7 July 2010 Wednesday of the 14th Week in Ordinary Time
Hosea 10, 1-12; Psalm 105; Matthew 10, 1-7

Have you ever felt that you have a mission to accomplish in your life? Well, today, Jesus reaffirms that discipleship involves mission. In the first verse of the Gospel, Jesus passes on to his twelve disciples authority over demons and diseases that He received from the Father.

After the list of the Twelve, Jesus tells his disciples that their mission is limited to the people of Israel first by avoiding entering the cities of non-Jews and Samaritans (whose “Judaism” is suspected to be contaminated by Jews and Galileans). However, we know what happens later after the Resurrection. Jesus asked the Twelve to expand their mission to them and to the Gentiles (Matthew 28, 19).

In a way, training for our mission begins with our families or among our peers. We are formed to become good disciples at home and in school. For many religious, they are formed in the seminary. For many professionals, the beginning started in some training center. Going out into greater missionary territory or group may require more skills and training for example, in understanding culture. And thus, to become someone with a greater skill we usually start somewhere local. We are to begin “as Jews” first so to speak.

God has dreams for us, for all of us. Our mission is to fulfill them. The logic I think is simple: we are called to work for the Kingdom in our personal and particular way (since we are all unique and distinct), in whatever vocation we are called to be. But we have to be equipped before we go to battle. Studies, training, and skills-building prepare us to become excellent missionaries. How we prepare ourselves will affect the quality of doing what we were meant to be.