Who can go out and proclaim the Good News? This Sunday’s readings seem to suggest that
the answer is: anyone whose heart is
open to Christ and who knows that redemption is at work in her or him. This means you!
Neither the prophet Amos (a mere dresser of sycamores) nor the disciples
around Jesus (fishermen, after all) are professional “proclaimers of the Word”
– and neither are we. But we all possess
one thing in common: the capacity to
Love. We aren’t necessarily secure in
our inner selves, though we trust that redemption is at work in us. But this is okay, because we all –
proclaimer and audience alike – have to recognize our own need for the Good
News, that is, our need for God, and for God’s Love in our lives, even as we
proclaim it. If we ourselves are
transformed by that Love, then we can bring that Love to bear upon the
difficulties of life, upon any challenge, upon the brokenness we encounter daily.
St. Paul says, In him
we have redemption by his blood, the forgiveness of transgressions, in accord
with the riches of his grace that he lavished upon us. Why?
So that we might exist for the
praise of his glory. At the end of
every Mass, we go forth, we are sent,
to share the word of truth even as we
grow in our own understanding of that truth
every single day. Ite, missa est!
(This reflection is based on notes from Fr. Pat's Thursday night Scripture class.)
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