Message of Abbot Paul - Wednesday 7th July

Message from Fr Paul for Wednesday, 7th July 2021

           It never ceases to amaze me that 2,000 years after the New Testament was written, the Gospels, Acts and the Epistles still have the power to thrill the reader and lead us to faith, a faith that is nourished each day as we continue to read and meditate on the scriptures. The extraordinary thing I find is that when I read or listen to the Gospels, for example, I am there with Jesus, the disciples and the crowds and it all becomes real and present to me. Do you have the same experience, I wonder?

           Today’s Gospel passage from Matthew, (Mt 10: 1-7), names the apostles chosen by Jesus, and tells us what initial instructions they were given. It begins with a general summary of the situation. “Jesus summoned his twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sickness.” We notice that, to begin with, the twelve are simply called disciples, to whom he has given a share of his own authority over the powers of evil and sickness. Then we are given their names, “These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, the one who was to betray him.” Simon Peter heads the list, but they’re all presented in pairs. When they set out to preach and to cure the sick two by two, did they perhaps have a constant companion? We are told which ones are brothers, we are given the name of the father of James and John, we are told that Matthew was a tax collector and that Judas Iscariot was the one who would betray him. James (the Less) is the son of Alphaeus and the other Simon is known as the Zealot. That’s about it, but the fact that they are all listed shows how important they all were. Finally, we come to those very first instructions to the Twelve as Apostles.

“These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them as follows: ‘Do not turn your steps to pagan territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town; go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.’” The priority, to begin with, are the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Jesus himself will have dealings with both pagans and Samaritans, but for the time being the Apostles must centre their attention on their own. Priority and exclusivity are not the same. Their principal task is to prepare the way for Jesus by proclaiming the proximity of the kingdom of heaven, for where Jesus is, there is the kingdom.

           Let us pray for the gift of faith and fidelity to Jesus in our lives that we, like the Twelve, may proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and may the Lord Jesus go with us. Amen.