Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
I am sending you like lambs among wolves, Jesus tells the seventy-two disciples. Their mission is to go ahead of Jesus, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and curing the sick in preparation for the Lord’s arrival. And they are not to rely on their own resources but the charity of those they meet. It is a dangerous mission; though some will welcome them, others will not. As Jesus was rejected, so also they will face rejection and opposition.
In virtue of our Baptism, we too are sent into the world as lambs among wolves. We too are to announce the Kingdom and prepare the way for Jesus in the towns and cities of the world, so that the hearts of all might receive their Lord and God. We do so in ways ordinary and extraordinary: in offices and in homes, in schools and in public places, announcing the Kingdom in word but even more in our way of life, which shows that God reigns in our hearts.
We too will face rejection and opposition as Christians living in the world. But as the Lord himself tells us, he has conquered the world (John 16:33). Let us, then, go out on mission today with courage, as lambs among wolves, yet confident in the abiding care of our Shepherd who knows his sheep and lays down his life for our sake (John 10:11, 14–15).