SENT WITHOUT SECURITY

July 9, Friday 

FOURTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

      Jacob and his sons had to be uprooted and to accept the uncertain. Yet God promised to accompany them in the school of trials that prepared them to become his people.

      What Jesus says of his apostles-missionaries applies also to all who follow him: they have to live with insecurity. They will be contradicted, ridiculed, perhaps persecuted. The gospel, meant to bring peace, in reality often divides. It sets off, sets apart. It brings division even among those who claim Christ as their Lord. Jesus promised to his disciples then and now his Holy Spirit to stand by their side in their trials.

 

First Reading: Genesis 46:1-7,28-30

So Israel set out on the journey with everything he owned. He arrived at Beersheba and worshiped, offering sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

God spoke to Israel in a vision that night: “Jacob! Jacob!”

“Yes?” he said. “I’m listening.”

God said, “I am the God of your father. Don’t be afraid of going down to Egypt. I’m going to make you a great nation there. I’ll go with you down to Egypt; I’ll also bring you back here. And when you die, Joseph will be with you; with his own hand he’ll close your eyes.”

Then Jacob left Beersheba. Israel’s sons loaded their father and their little ones and their wives on the wagons Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They arrived in Egypt with the livestock and the wealth they had accumulated in Canaan. Jacob brought everyone in his family with him—sons and grandsons, daughters and granddaughters. Everyone.

Jacob sent Judah on ahead to get directions to Goshen from Joseph. When they got to Goshen, Joseph gave orders for his chariot and went to Goshen to meet his father Israel. The moment Joseph saw him, he threw himself on his neck and wept. He wept a long time.

Israel said to Joseph, “I’m ready to die. I’ve looked into your face—you are indeed alive.”

 

Gospel: Matthew 10:16-23

“Stay alert. This is hazardous work I’m assigning you. You’re going to be like sheep running through a wolf pack, so don’t call attention to yourselves. Be as cunning as a snake, inoffensive as a dove.

“Don’t be naive. Some people will impugn your motives, others will smear your reputation—just because you believe in me. Don’t be upset when they haul you before the civil authorities. Without knowing it, they’ve done you—and me—a favour, given you a platform for preaching the kingdom news! And don’t worry about what you’ll say or how you’ll say it. The right words will be there; the Spirit of your Father will supply the words.

“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. There is a great irony here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.

 

Prayer

Lord our God,
our faith is often put to the test
in the confusion of our time.
Let your Holy Spirit speak in us
when we meet contradiction
on account of the gospel of your Son.
May he be our strength and peace
in living with the uncertainties
that are the lot of those who believe in you.
Stay with us when the going is rough
and bring us home to you
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Martyrs of China, pray for us!

Today the Church celebrates the memorial of the 120 martyr saints of China. SAINT AUGUSTINE ZHAO RONG and other 119 martyrs who were killed in China for their faith in Jesus between the years 1648 and 1930. The martyrs include 87 native Chinese and 33 foreign missionaries. The 120 martyrs were canonized on 1 October 2000 by Pope Saint John Paul II.

Augustine Zhao Rong was the first native Chinese priest to become a martyr. He Born in 1746, and served as one of the soldiers who escorted Bishop John Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, to his martyrdom in Beijing. The witness of the bishop led Augustine to seek baptism at age 30. He was ordained a priest five years later and was martyred in 1815.

At a time when the world suffer from the coronavirus pandemic, we should pray for the intercession of the martyr saints of China. Numerous Christians were persecuted and martyred in Wuhan, China the epicentre of today’s coronavirus pandemic.

St. Jean-Gabriel Perboyre and St. Francis Regis Clet were Vincentian missionary priests from France, were both killed by strangulation in Wuhan. They died because they could not breathe. The Chinese martyrs could be the appropriate intercessors for this particular illness of Coronavirus Covid-19 that continues to threaten humanity across the globe.

Wuhan, now infamous as the starting point of the coronavirus, was once an outpost for Catholic missionaries who founded Catholic hospitals in the city.

The Gospel today reminds us that the mission to which the apostles are sent is dangerous. Very dangerous. The comparison Jesus uses here is extremely harsh: “Like sheep among wolves” … “Wolves” are all those who, threaten or make the bearers of the Gospel suffer greatly and make them disappear. But, the threat of persecutions, does not threaten or frighten the Christians, because they trust the Spirit of Jesus who leads them through the foggy paths of discernment.

While talking about Christians persecuted in the world around, Pope Francis had said, “in order to bear witness to light and to truth, the Church experiences, in different places, harsh persecution, up to the supreme sacrifice of martyrdom. How many of our brothers and sisters in faith endure abuse and violence, and are hated because of Jesus! I shall tell you something: today’s martyrs are more numerous with respect to those of the first centuries…I tell you: there is the same cruelty today, and to a greater extent, toward Christians. Today we should think of those who are suffering from persecution, and to be close to them with our affection, our prayers and also our tears. …

Let us joyfully and courageously renew the will to follow him faithfully, as the only guide, by continuing to live according to the Gospel and rejecting the mentality of those who dominate this world.

 

Video available on Youtube: Martyrs of China, pray for us!