Memory of the Saints and the Prophets
Reading of the Word of God
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
Luke 9,1-6
He called the Twelve together and gave them power and authority over all devils and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. He said to them, 'Take nothing for the journey: neither staff, nor haversack, nor bread, nor money; and do not have a spare tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there; and when you leave let your departure be from there. As for those who do not welcome you, when you leave their town shake the dust from your feet as evidence against them.' So they set out and went from village to village proclaiming the good news and healing everywhere.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.
Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia
The Gospel passage reports that the twelve were sent in mission. Jesus now sends them to carry out his mission, giving them his own authority and power: he "gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases." The Twelve had to fulfil Jesus' very mission, that is preaching the Kingdom, the new world that God was starting through Jesus' work, and healing the sick as a sign of its concrete realization. This mission requires us to strip ourselves of our desire of being at the centre of attention so that we can become servants of the Gospel in everything, with the same missionary eagerness that led the Twelve to go door to door, village to village, city to city: no one was to be denied the proclamation of the Gospel. Their only wealth was the Gospel - and it should continue to be also for today's disciples. The Gospel must be communicated, in its purity, without additions or gimmicks. Jesus' disciples must be aware that the Gospel itself is enough: it is leaven and light that transforms. That is why Jesus orders the Twelve: "Take nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money-not even an extra tunic." Their wealth and their power is only the Gospel. Certainly it may happen that the Gospel is not accepted. However it should not stop the proclamation that should be brought "through villages." The Gospel is God's gift to all peoples. The disciples are witnesses to it.