Call to be Missionary Disciples

Jesus calls each of us to be a missionary disciple.  What does that mean?

Jesus tells us what it is like to be a missionary disciple.  “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’  Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.  Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give…Whatever town or village you enter, look for a worthy person in it, and stay there until you leave.  As you enter a house, wish it peace.  If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; if not, let your peace return to you.”  Matthew 10:7-8,11-13

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  To me, the kingdom of heaven is something that can be experienced here and now, “at hand.”  It is God’s love, joy, and peace in our hearts.  It is definitely believing in God’s Love, Goodness, Kindness, and Mercy!

Jesus says to, “Cure the sick.”  Knowing that you are loved by God will automatically put you on the road to healing.  Believing in His Goodness, Kindness, and Mercy for you, will give you hope to overcome your illnesses – spiritual, mental, psychological, and physical.  Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, “whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  (John 4:14)  Jesus is the source of living water that brings healing to your heart and soul.  When you invite Jesus to come into your heart, and to be the Lord of your life, then He becomes a spring of living water, running over, to cure you, and the sick around you.   Jesus Himself gives all of us eternal life when we believe in Him.  “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)

Jesus calls us to, “raise the dead.”  We are to love and have mercy and compassion on those around us who are spiritually dead in their sins.  We are to raise up, and lift up their hearts, in prayer, to our Lord.  We are to beg God to rain down His precious Blood and Living Water upon their hearts, so that they will turn from their sinful ways, and live a new life for God.

Jesus tells us to, “cleanse lepers.”  It is easy to want to stay away from the people in our lives that we don’t like.  It takes courage to pray for them, and even more courage to reach out to them.  Jesus says, “The Advocate, the holy Spirit that the Father will send in my name – he will teach you everything and remind you of all that [I] told you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.  Not as the world gives do I give it to you.  Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”  (John 14:26-27)  Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you and guide you.  Allow yourself to be an instrument for God to use.  Cleansing a leper can be as simple as inviting someone to go with you to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, where Jesus is present through the priest, to forgive and to heal.

Jesus exhorts us to, “drive out demons.”  Any thought that pulls you down, and does not reinforce and verify God’s love for you, is not from God.  Guard your heart and soul.  Always say, “yes,” to God’s love in your heart and soul.  Say, “no,” to thoughts that cause you to harden your heart.

  Saint Paul says, “What will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword?...No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor power, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:35, 37-39)  Saint Paul goes on to say, “Do not be conquered by evil but conquer evil with good.”  (Romans 12:21)  Driving out demons can mean encouraging a person to trust in the Lord, instead of doubting; to banish fears with the love of God; to replace anxiety with faith in God, etc…

Jesus says, “As you enter a house, wish it peace…”  A “house” can also mean a person’s heart and soul.  When you are with someone, you can wish them the peace of our Lord.  Saint Paul says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” (1 Corinthians 6:19)  You are not only a house, but a temple!  Even Jesus referred to His own Body as a temple.  He told the Jews, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up…he was speaking about the temple of his body.” (John 2:19-21)

Love is calling you.  Love is calling you to be a missionary disciple.  Do you hear it?  Believe in God’s Love for you!

My prayer is…

that the Lord’s Loving Will be done in my life today

that I may love Jesus

with all of my heart

that I may love Jesus

with all of my soul

that I may love Jesus

with all of my mind

that I may love Jesus

with all of my strength

that I may see God’s love for me today

and share His Love with others

Amen!

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Mark 12:30-31a