I’ve been teaching my son how to cook lately. It’s a great life skill and will hopefully serve him well as he goes into the world. One thing I realized about cooking is that — as a skill — it’s one of those that you can start using almost immediately. Someone who’s never cooked before can pretty easily learn how to put bread in a toaster and smear peanut butter on it once it’s browned. With only a smidgeon more practice, a fledgling chef can make spaghetti (using jarred sauce and boxed pasta).
So with a few weeks of teaching, my son has been able to cook about 99% of several meals . . . and that remaining 1% has been more our unwillingness (his and mine) to “cut the cord” and say, “Son, you’re on your own entirely for this meal. Figure it out, and don’t come to see me unless something’s on fire.” As the weeks and months progress, I have no doubt that he’ll get more and more skilled at cooking.
There’s another “skill” that you can start using almost immediately: living the faith. The sections from today’s Gospel selection from Matthew are helpfully labeled in my New American Bible as “The Mission of the Twelve” and “The Commissioning of the Twelve.” In it, Jesus gives the 12 apostles instructions to go out into the world: “As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.'” The instructions continue beyond that — into tomorrow’s Gospel selection — with specific instructions of what they are expected to do and how they are expected to act.
I’ve read this selection dozens of times, and never thought about it too closely. But reflecting and research has led me to some interesting observations. For example, Matthew 10:2 (“The names of the twelve apostles are these . . .”) is the only time the word “apostle” is used in the Gospel of Matthew. My Bible notes that “apostle” means “one who is sent,” so its use here is about as appropriate as can be imagined.
But the bigger thing I realized when I really looked at this Gospel selection is: What’s it doing here?
I mean, look at it. This is Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew. In my Bible, this Gospel is 54 pages long (pages 1009-1062). Chapter 10 starts on p. 1023 . . . 15 pages after the start of the Gospel. Chapter 1 deals with Jesus’ birth, Chapter 2 is the early life of the baby Jesus (the Visit of the Magi, and the flight to and return from Egypt), and Chapter 3 focuses on John the Baptist. The first words spoken by Jesus in Matthew are in Matthew 4:15 (p. 1013), when he instructs John the Baptist to baptize him.
The first disciples are called by Jesus in Matthew 4:18-22. The Sermon on the Mount — the first of the discourses central to the structure of this Gospel — is Matthew 5:1-12, on page 1015.
Eight pages later, Jesus apparently feels that his disciples have enough instruction to go forth and proclaim “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand” . . . and he also felt that they would be able to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons.”
Of course, when you realize the time frame, it’s impossible that the disciples could have had that much experience. Jesus’ ministry began when he was about 30 (Luke 3:23), and he was probably about 33 when he died . . . leaving just a few years, at most, to cram as much instruction as needed to spread the Word.
Now, I’ve been a Catholic for almost 15 years, and I still don’t feel like I have my act entirely together when it comes to doing what Jesus commanded. I don’t feel ready, I don’t feel like I know enough, I don’t feel brave enough, I don’t feel like my faith is strong enough.
But reflecting on today’s readings makes me realize that those excuses are exactly that: excuses. I have to trust in Jesus and in the faith he put in us to do what he commanded. I know the Spirit will be there for me, even as I step outside my comfort zone.
At least one practical element is here, too. In today’s Gospel section, Jesus warned his apostles: “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Although the salvation promised by Christ is available to all, I suspect this instruction was because Jesus wanted his message taken first to those who would be most receptive and open.
This is generally good advice. If you’re going to start comforting prisoners, it’s probably not wise to sign up as a first-timer to provide ministry to violent murderers. If you’re going to defend the Faith for the first time, you may not want to wade into a debate with a world-famous acerbic atheist.
But you also can’t put up the fact that you don’t feel ready as a barrier to actually stepping up and doing what you can. You can do this! Jesus has confidence in you to do the will of the Father like he had in his disciples, and the Spirit will be there with you every step of the journey.
Although surely infused with the fire of Faith, those initial apostles may well have been scared at the enormity of what lay before them. But we see the fruits of their efforts even today. And compared to those first apostles, when we go forth, we do so with more details about the fullness of Jesus’ life and mission, and with millennia of the world’s smartest people thinking about what the Faith means and how we can live it. What are you waiting for? Go forth!
Today’s readings: Hos 10:1-3,7-8,12; Ps 105:2-7; Mt 10:1-7
