Sunday June 14: Being Sent

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Harvesters, 1565

At the sight of the crowds, Jesus’ heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for the harvest.” Then he summoned his twelve disciples … and sent them out after instructing them thus: … “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons.”
- Matthew 9:36-38; 10:1, 5, 7-8

Know that the Lord is God;
God made us, we are God’s;
God’s people, the flock God tends.
- Psalm 100:3

Subscribe to receive new posts.

Prior to this passage in Matthew’s Gospel, the disciples had listened to Jesus give the Sermon on the Mount and had witnessed him healing various people. Then, after asking them to pray for “laborers,” he taps twelve of the disciples and sends them out as “laborers for the harvest.” These disciples were now apostles, sent out to proclaim the kingdom of heaven and to show outward and visible signs of that kingdom’s presence.

At first, the twelve must have been flabbergasted. Did Jesus really wanted them to tell people who were living with injustice, oppression, and poverty that the kingdom of heaven was at hand? Did he really expect them to cure people, raise them from the dead, cleanse unclean people, and drive out demons? Jesus could do such things, but could they?

It is good to listen to sermons or homilies – even to the Word of the Week and other spiritual enrichment. It is good to pray, meditate, and attend church services. Isn’t it asking a bit much to expect disciples to proclaim “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” in a world where, as Pope Leo XIV noted, “war is back in vogue”—where corruption, oppression, and injustice are upheld by people in power?

Thomas Keating wrote, “There is no opposition between action and contemplation. … Interior experience is geared to action. It is designed to soften up our self-centered disposition, to deliver us from what is compulsive in our motivation and to open us up completely to God and the genuine service of others” (The Heart of the World). Service flows out of our consenting to God’s presence and is a sign of the transformation God works in us. One participant in a Word of the Week’s prayer chapel compared sitting in silence to a smartphone sitting on a charging station – both are given power to connect with others. Nurtured and fed in silence, we too are being sent to nurture and feed the world as humble servants. As Fr. Thomas adds, “By making oneself a servant of everyone, then the divine healing or the redemptive work of Christ can flow through us without our getting in the way” (“A Word about Service” video).

+

“Through compassion we move from ego-centrism to ex-centrism. … Compassion can free us from the prison of the ego, whether our individual ego or that of our family, community or nation. To want to bear responsibility for the needs of others is a blessing. It frees us from our narrow self-interest.”
- John Philip Newell, The Rebirthing of God

+

• Watch this 7-minute video with Thomas Keating, “A Word About Service” here on YouTube. As you read today’s reflection and listen to the video, what do you hear for your journey now?

• In The Mystery of Christ, Thomas Keating raised this question: “How do we show love in the concrete? How do we build up society when we have our own problems that scarcely leave us enough time or resources to take care of our own family, business or spiritual life?” One of his responses is that we love what is right in front of us, in our everyday life. Where in your everyday life do you understand yourself to be loving “in the concrete”?

• In 1994, Gary A. Haugen, an attorney in US Department of Justice, was sent as the officer in charge of the investigation into the Rwandan genocide. When he returned to the United States, he wrote a book entitled Good News about Injustice. This quotation is taken from that book:

The battle for justice in the world is not fought where we think it is. … The battle against oppression stands or falls on the battlefield of hope. No one knows this better than the oppressors. They … rely on, utterly depend on, the inaction of despair. They know full well that their preeminence depends on most people in their community, their nation and their world doing nothing. … The oppressor knows that the primary reason we do nothing is because we have lost any hope of making a difference. It is not that we lack power, compassion or knowledge. Rather, we lack a sense of hope that allows us to take what we have into the fray.

How do you sustain a sense of hope in your life today?

• The 11^th of the 12 Steps reads, “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God, praying only for knowledge of God’s will for us and the power to carry that out.” What practices help you discern God’s will for you in particular situations? What practices help you feel empowered to carry out what you discern is being asked of you?

• You may listen to the audio recording of today’s reflection here (about 14 minutes long).

• Please share your reflections and comments, or you can “like” using the heart icon. Post prayer requests here. By clicking on the Subscribe link, you can receive email notifications when someone posts a prayer request.

• If you would like to donate to support the Word of the Week weekly reflection, please do so here. All love offerings of any amount are greatly appreciated.

• A reminder of the upcoming e-course offered by Contemplative Outreach in partnership with Spirituality & Practice, “The Transformation of Suffering,” which begins June 22. Go here to read more and register. 4 CEUs for chaplains are available, as are scholarships.
  

There are three live Word of the Week prayer groups meeting weekly to support your journey. Each prayer group has a slightly different reflection excerpt, therefore some participants attend more than one. You can use this time zone converter to assist in calculating the prayer groups in your local time.

• Tuesday, 9:00-10:00 AM Eastern (New York) Time (UTC/GMT offset -5 hours)

• Wednesday, 6:00-7:00 PM Eastern (New York) Time (UTC/GMT offset -5 hours)

For these two groups, use this link to join OR click-on “join meeting,” and enter meeting ID 445 909 4698. When prompted for a passcode, use COL.

• Thursday, 8:00-9:00 AM Eastern (New York) Time (UTC/GMT offset -5 hours). This groups meets on Meditation Chapel in the Wisdom Chapel. Use this link to join the group. Be sure to register with Meditation Chapel here if you are not already.

Additional opportunities to support your silent prayer practice and spiritual journey are offered in The Meditation Chapel, a Zoom-enabled, worldwide meditation community. All groups are free and open to all. Read more about groups on The Meditation Chapel here.