Upon celebrating the Solemnity of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity, and the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ, we now reflect on our apostolic identity, as we are, indeed, one holy catholic and apostolic Church, on Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A.
The Gospel Reading (Matthew 9:36-10:8) reminds us that
our one holy catholic and apostolic Church (unam, sanctam, catholicam et
apostolicam Ecclesiam/ μίαν ἁγίαν καθολικὴν καὶ ἀποστολικὴν ἐκκλησίαν(mian
agian katholikin kai apostolikin ekklisian)) grew out of Jesus’ compassion
(σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai)), even before his proclamation to build
his Church, in response to Peter’s identification of Jesus as the Christ, the
Son of the living God, as the Father revealed this truth to him, indicating him
as the first Pope (Matthew 16:13-19).
It was when Jesus was going around to all the towns
and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the
kingdom, and curing every disease and illness (Matthew 9:35), being moved with
compassion in seeing the great crowds being like sheep without a shepherd
(Matthew 9:36).
In the original Greek text, Jesus’ response to the
lost crowds is described as ἐσπλαγχνίσθη (esplanchnisthe)- being moved
with compassion. This Greek word is associated with σπλαγχνίζομαι
(splagchnizomai), which is translated as “compassion” but literally means
internal organ (σπλάγχνον (splagchnon)) being shaken. In other words,
Jesus’ internal organs were shaken when he saw how pitiful the crowds were to
be lost like sheep without a shepherd.
Then, out of his compassion (σπλαγχνίζομαι
(splagchnizomai)) for them, Jesus said to his twelve disciples:
The harvest is abundant but the laborers
are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest
(Matthew 9:37-38).
What does Jesus mean by this statement?
Though he the crowds in needs as “sheep without a
shepherd”(v.36), Jesus shifts to a harvest analogy to describe the great
pastoral needs. Thus, “abundant harvest” means “great pastoral needs”. But the
harvest needs are greater than the capability of the currently available farm
workers or the pastoral needs are exceeding what the currently available
shepherds are capable of. So, he says to ask “the master of the harvest”,
referring either to the Father or himself as “the master of the harvest”.
because the work of Jesus is, in essence, the work of the Father (John 5:17).
In Jesus’ parable of the vineyard workers (Matthew
20:1-16), we see how God, the landowner, “the master of the harvest”,
keeps adding workers in addition to his original ones, indicating the greater
work loads in the vineyard.
To put this in a shepherding analogy, Jesus the Son is
sent as the Good Shepherd for his Father’s sheep and saw the pastoral need to
care for the lost sheep to bring them into his herd (John 10:11-18). And the
Good Shepherd needs his “associate shepherds” to care for the greater pastoral
needs of the world. For this reason, Jesus has trained his disciples to send
them out upon Pentecost with the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, Jesus said on the night before his death:
Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes
in me will do the works that I do, and will do greater ones than these, because
I am going to the Father (John 14:12).
On the night of his resurrection, he said:
Peace be with you. As the Father has sent
me, so I send you (John 20:21).
Then, in breathing upon the disciples, he said with an
implication to the descent of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost:
Receive the holy Spirit
(John 20:22).
Because Peter is the chief among the associate pastors
to the Good Shepherd (i.e. Matthew 16:17-19), Jesus made sure that he takes
good care of his sheep, before his departure from the earth (John 21:15-17).
First, Jesus limited the disciples’ pastoral mission
only to the Jews at that time (vv. 5-6). It was because they were not mature
yet to care for pastoral needs of the Samaritans and the Gentiles. As in the
case of Peter, they had to be mature enough to receive the Holy Spirit, who
tells when and how to reach out beyond the Jews (Acts 10:9-48).
Secondly, Jesus instructed the disciples to proclaim, “The
kingdom of heaven is at hand”(v.7), resonating Jesus’ own words at the
beginning of his public ministry: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand (Matthew 4:17).
Then Jesus instructed the disciples:
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse
lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are
to give (Matthew 10:8).
Jesus gave the disciples his authority to drive our
evil spirits and to heal the sick (Matthew 10:1) in order for this order. And,
he gave the authority without cost. Therefore, he told the disciples that their
pastoral service of exorcism and healing were to be given without cost.
Remember, our one holy catholic and apostolic Church
grew out of Jesus’ compassion. So why does her pastoral service need to cost to
those who receive? The spirit of this instruction of Jesus was also exemplified
by Sts. Cosmas and Damian, twin brothers and physicians, who provided their
medical services absolutely freely to anyone who sought them, until their martyrdom.
The commissioning and instructing of the twelve
disciples (Matthew 10:1-42) is a prototype to the great commissioning of the
disciples after Jesus’ resurrection and just before his ascension, in sending
them to all nations (Matthew 28:16-20).
The Gospel Reading (Matthew 9:36-10:8) indicates that
our one holy catholic and apostolic Church stemmed out of the compassion (σπλαγχνίζομαι
(splagchnizomai)) of Jesus (Matthew 9:36). The compassionate nature of our
apostolic Church actually reflects how God’s mercy upon His people, symbolized with
the eagle wing of rescue, can make them the kingdom of priests and ho nation
(Exodus 19:2-6a). Thus, we shall reach out to those who are in need, bearing
God’s compassion as one holy catholic and apostolic Church, without any coast.
And we must share Jesus’ σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai).
The Second Reading (Romans 5:6-11), while reflecting
God’s love and how it brought Christ to us and why he sacrificed himself for us,
suggest that our apostolic missions are also to bring reconciliation, which is
a form of healing.
Both the First Reading (Exodus 19:2-6a) and the Second Reading (Romans 5:6-11) show how God's faithful covenant love (חֶסֶד(chesed)) is to us and call us to reflect this as we go on our apostolic mission. And Jesus, σπλαγχνίζομαι (splagchnizomai), from which our apostolic Church continues to grow reflects God's (חֶסֶד(chesed)) .
Our holy catholic Church is apostolic, because Jesus,
who is “master of the harvest”(Matthew 9:38) is sending his disciples
out to wherever there are great pastoral needs to be take) care of. Upon his
death, resurrection, and ascension, upon the descent of the Holy Spirit, we are
sent on our respective apostolic missions by the power of the Holy Spirit.
God the Father gave His only begotten Son to us
because He loves us (John 3:16), incarnating him (John 1:14) by the power of
the Holy Spirit in the human flesh of Jesus in Mary’s womb (Luke 1:28-35). Because of this, as the visible image of the
invisible God (Colossians 1:15), the incarnated Christ dwells among us (John
1:14), as Immanuel, which means “God with us” (Matthew 1:23; cf. Isaiah 7:14),
always till the end of time (Matthew 28:20). The very presence of Christ the
Son is assured even after his departure from the earth to return to the Father
in heaven, for he is always with us in the Holy Spirit (i.e. John 14:1), whom
he calls another Parakletos (John
14:16), while he is the Parakletos (1
John 2:1).
Because the Son was given to us incarnated in the
human flesh of Jesus, though unblemished, Christ took our sins upon him and
offered himself as the ultimate Yom Kippur sacrifice for us to reconcile with
God (Leviticus 16:1-19) and as the ultimate Pesach sacrifice for us (Exodus
12:1-14) to be delivered from the bonds of sins (Romans 6:1-23). And the Father
raised the Son from the dead (1 Corinthians 6:14; 2 Corinthians 4:14) by the
power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11).
Then, the risen incarnated Christ taught the disciples through the Holy
Spirit for 40 days to prepare them to be sent on their apostolic missions by
the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, before his ascension to return to
the Father (Acts 1:1-5).
Out of His love, the Father gave His only begotten Son
to us not just to save us and entitle us to eternal life (John 3:16) but to
send us to all nations on our respective apostolic missions (Matthew 28:19) to
carry on with the work of the Son (John 14:12), which is His work (John 5:17; 9:4). And doing the work of Christ the
Son on our apostolic missions is a sign of our vital faith (John 14:12; James
2:22, 26). And it is instructed and guided by the Holy Spirit (John
14:26;16:13-15), while we are continuously nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ
(i.e. John 6:51-58).
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