Called and Sent to Preach Love

In today’s Gospel we heard that Jesus appointed seventy-two others to go ahead of Him and announce the Good News.  Those appointments have not stopped.  Jesus continues to appoint others each and every day to be His Apostles, to go forth and announce Him to the world.

Jesus has called us to be His apostles.  We are not the first twelve apostles, they had a special call and mission, to be the foundation of the Church, nevertheless Jesus calls others besides the twelve to be His Apostles.  For to be an apostle you simply have to be called by name and then sent. (c.f. Is. 43:1 and Lk. 10:1)

Jesus has already called each and every one of us gathered here today, He has called us personally.  He has also given each of us a mission, a vocation; a life’s calling for His glory and for the good of the Church.  And it is today in our own time that Jesus needs each and every one of us to go forth and proclaim the Good News.

A question we may be asking is, “What is the Good News I need to be preaching, both by word and deed?”

First and foremost we need to preach that God loves us, even in our brokenness. Our words will mean nothing if we do not address the fact that we are deeply loved.  Loved so much in fact that the Lord would carry a cross and be crucified on it for people who did not deserve it; that is love personified and love shown perfectly.

We have a lot of problems in our world.  All of us have become war mongers, we still execute people, many still believe you cannot have abortions in society but at the same time want people put to death, we have turned marriage upside down both in its sanctity, we have a fifty % divorce rate and we have recently redefined marriage, we live in excess while many can’t find their next meal, we blame the poor as being lazy – you know Jesus did that all the time (being sarcastic), we have closed our doors to the immigrant and to those who are already here we blame for our problems, really?  So it was the immigrant who bought bad mortgages, who turned our nation into a debt society (again being sarcastic).  Our problems go on and on.  

The beauty is that all of these problems can be remedied by faith and love in Jesus and one another.  Jesus wants us to talk about these things, to one another, but also to all of society.  He wants us to share the share the answer with others.  The answer has not changed since the first man and woman walked this earth, that we are loved.  If that love is accepted by us and we try to live it than the world will become a better place, if we deny that love and live in our brokenness, then we will remain so, bitter, angry and casting blame on everyone but ourselves.

Jesus called us in this time and this place to go forth and bring Him to others so that they along with us will give up our sins, for they are too heavy, and lean on Jesus where we find peace, but most of all love, the mission of each and every apostle, to share and love and know we are loved.