St Bonaventure Parish

In the gospel for this week we see the missionary task of the first apostles. Jesus sends them out to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to proclaim the good news that the kingdom of heaven has come near. Their task is a focused one: they are to take very little with them, obtaining provisions from the various towns and villages as they need them.  The emphasis here is on movement. The disciples are to spread the gospel; they aren’t staying long in any particular place, rather they are, as it were, planting the seed in various types of soil, and then moving on.

We see clearly from this the itinerant nature of their mission — a mission which begins to establish the Church, first within Israel and then later, with Paul, throughout the larger Gentile world. The constant movement of the disciples from one town or village to the next allowed for the rapid growth of the Church, but it also helped to keep the early Church’s focus on the gospel message, on the salvation brought about by Jesus. Had the disciples established themselves in various places, the early Church could easily have become a collection of cults of personalities rather than an instrument for the care and nurture of the gospel. Their constant movement helped to keep the Church’s focus properly fixed upon Jesus. 

The message for us is always to have this same focus in mind. Within the Church individuals play a crucial role, people and personalities are important, yet underlying all of this is the one sure foundation of Jesus Christ — the same yesterday, today and always.  

May the gospel, presented to the world through the teaching of the apostles, always be at the heart of everything we do.