Friday, July 8, 2016

MISSION OF MESSINESS

Hosea 14:2-10; Ps 51 My mouth will declare your praise; Matt 10:16-23

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men..."


Again the apostles are sent on mission or is it they are mission.  Listen to the words of Pope Paul VI:
"the church doesn't have a mission; it is a mission" according to now St. Pope Paul VI.  What is that mission but simply this to cause the merciful face of Jesus to gaze upon everyone in the world.

When Pope Francis was elected our pope during an interview about the election he was asked, "who is Jorge Mario Bergoglio and after a pause he said, "a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon."  At the heart of this catholic thing we call church and life of grace is an encounter between us sinners and the God of amazing grace.

This is the task plain and simple.

As Hosea reminds us in today's first reading,
"Thus say the Lord, I will heal their defection; I will love them freely...I will be like the dew for Israel: he shall blossom like a lilly, he shall strike root like the cedar of Lebanon, and put forth its shoots.  His splendor like the olive tree and fragrance like the cedar...They shall blossom like the vine and his fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon."

I will heal their defection and I will love them freely!

Pope Francis on his visit to South America told the young people the following,
"Make a mess, but then also help to tidy it up. A mess which gives us a free heart, a mess which gives us solidarity, a mess which gives us hope."

Go make a mess!

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