“Go!”

“Go!”

Memorial of Saints John de Brébeuf and Isaac Jogues, Priests, and Companions, Martyrs

Piety

We hold this treasure in earthen vessels that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body. 2 Corinthians 4:7-10

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

Study

This week we have been considering several encounters with Jesus and a common word throughout is “Go.”

Jesus does not want us to stay in the comfort zone of our little existence.  He told the ten lepers last Sunday to “Go and be made clean.”  Yesterday, in commissioning the disciples, he told them to “Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals, and greet no one along the way.”  They had a harvest of souls to complete.  And today, in the alternate readings for the memorial of these martyrs, Jesus tells us once again to “Go!”

Jesus’ commandments differ from the ten that Moses chiseled in two stone tablets.  For me, the word that stands out in the Ten Commandments is “No.”  Not “Go.”  Moses is telling us that the Hebrew Bible is trying to protect us from falling into the trap of sin.  Jesus is telling us not to play it safe. 

The commandments of Jesus now become the standard of Christian conduct, not the Mosaic law.  As we move forward to carry those commandments onward (“Ultreya!”), Mosaic law does not go away.  Jesus now invests his authority with Moses adding a new dimension to the law.

As we venture out of the safety of our fishing boats (cars) and upper rooms (dens), and temples (parishes), we don’t do this alone.  We do it by imitating Jesus, who adds the new covenant to the foundation of the old:  “Behold, I am with you always!”  The presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and our lives is real.  The echoes of Christmas (“Emmanuel”) and Easter (“Eucharist”) remain with us and “go” on forever. 

Action

The world is a hostile place.  Sometimes, we will face the wrath of the public.  But we will not build the Kingdom from the bleachers at Nationals Park or the local AMC movie theatre.  We will not even grow it in the pews of our local parish. We have to take the closing of the Mass to heart:  “Go in peace.” 

Where are you going today so that the life of Jesus may be manifested?