GOSPEL POWER l JULY 6, 2022 - Wednesday of 14th Week in Ordinary Time

Saint Maria Goretti, virgin and martyr

Gospel: Mt 10:1-7 

1 Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over  unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every  sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon,  also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee,  and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew  the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the  Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him. 5 These  twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere  among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go  rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim  the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

Since Jesus is the image of the invisible God (cf. Col 1:15),  his actions allow us to glimpse the intentions and ways of  God. In today’s Gospel episode, the God whom Jesus reveals  is the God who desires the involvement of human beings in bringing  his eternal plan to completion. Despite the human tendency to mess  up, God continues to risk, offering us every chance to take part in  the divine project. If there is anyone who believes in us tirelessly,  never giving up on us, it is God. Thus, we see Jesus taking the risk  to share his divine powers with his disciples who, despite their good  intentions, still bear the dark human tendency to play god and abuse  power. But the God revealed in Jesus is not an insecure deity who  wants to be the sole repository of power. God empowers but also  ensures that the powers can never be abused. The powers Jesus  shares with his disciples are powers to serve others. And the power  given us, Christians, is the Holy Spirit — the power that will transform  us into new creatures.

Lord Jesus, may God’s passion to involve us in the divine plan draw us out of passivity and inaction. Amen.