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 Twelve are not sent to teach a new doctrine, but to establish a new kingdom, to bring about the liberation of men and women from the bondage of sin and death. Jesus gives them power over "all" demons. Yes, all slavery must be cast out. The proclamation of the Gospel of the kingdom begins with deeds, that is, with clear events of liberation, with clear signs of a new time, a time of mercy, of love, of justice, and of peace. Christian faith is not an ideology set against others, it is not a thought for particular people, perhaps for some heroes of asceticism. Faith is transforming: it changes the heart of those who choose precisely to respond to Jesus' call. And from new hearts a new history is born. Christian faith does not lock one up in a stingy individualism. On the contrary, it pushes to transform history in order to make closer the kingdom of love that indeed Jesus came to inaugurate. The Twelve - Luke notes - "departed and went through the villages." Every believer is called to join the followers of Jesus to communicate the same Gospel. This mission requires us to strip ourselves of our desire to be the centre of attention. And already from this page we intuit the urgency that push the Twelve to go from house to house, village to village, city to city so that no one is denied of the Gospel.