Jesus would never make it as a sales manager in the modern world. Today’s readings are an excellent example. The art of waxing eloquent was certainly not his forte. Any good sales manager would have at least painted the mission of sending his subordinates on the road as being exciting, an adventure-filled trip to lure more people into the fold. Instead, Jesus promises a hard trek down some dusty roads (Matthew 10:34-11:1). Just when it sounds like it can’t get any worse, Jesus drops another bombshell. He says He has not come to bring peace to the earth but the sword!
Lest we misunderstand the Lord, His intention is not to bring about bloodshed. The regrettable side effect of the Gospel is division, resulting from the uncompromising proclamation of the kingdom. The mission discourse clearly outlines the great challenges that we disciples face in taking the Good News to the world, along with the side effects it brings. For Jesus, this is moment when decisions must be made. We either are with Him in mission, or we are not.
According to the Fathers of Vatican II, family is supposed to be “the domestic church,” the place where faith is taught and encouraged to grow (Lumen Gentium, 11). But we all have family members, either close or distant, whose religious beliefs and moral expectations are different from ours. So if we are actively trying to follow Jesus, it is no surprise that we sometimes meet with some resistance in our homes.
Many of the Church’s greatest saints experienced this. St. Catherine of Siena, for instance, resisted her parents’ efforts to make her marry. St. Thomas Aquinas’ family locked him in a tower and hired a prostitute to tempt him. St. Clare of Assisi ran away from home to join St. Francis and refused her parents’ attempts to bring her back. But none of these heroes of the faith lashed out or sought vengeance. They tried their best to love and forgive.
Perhaps we misunderstand the call to discipleship, or we understand it too glibly. Discipleship requires us to use our minds to think through what discipleship is before we commit to it. The challenges are not easy.
Matthew’s community well understood the demands of discipleship and mission. They lived through persecution; the cross was always before them. It seemed like every day that they were denounced by father and mother and found their foe to be members of their own household.
That brings us to the million-dollar question as the mission discourse draws to a close: What is in it for me? There is no talk of a diadem and a palace for those that serve Him. There is, however, a promise of a disciple’s reward, proportionate to the act of love that we show to others: to a prophet, to a righteous person, to a ‘little one’, or to a sinner.
May God Bless You and Grant You His Peace!