DAILY GRACE
July 9, 2020, Thursday of the Fourteenth Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Matthew 10:7-15
As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.” Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgement than for that town.
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“As you go, proclaim the good news, “The kingdom of heaven has come near.”
The Gospel of Matthew has used nearly identical phrases twice before. Matthew first describes John the Baptist’s desert ministry: “. . . preaching in the desert of Judea [and] saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!’” (3:1-2). Then Matthew gives us a first glimpse of Jesus’ public ministry: “From that time on, Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (4:17). Now it becomes the initial advice to the Twelve as they are sent out to preach.
“As you go, proclaim . . .” As we go about the day-to-day business of living, our words and actions communicate who we are and what actually believe in. I want to communicate my belief, but what does my life actually look like to others? What shows when I see the “least” in my estimation? What shows when I’m exasperated with the daily grind? What proclamation am I making?
“The kingdom of heaven has come near” or “is at hand.” Jesus indicates himself as the kingdom of God in person. Jesus is God’s authority and God’s fidelity to his covenant present in our midst. The kingdom is not some remote country, or a distant even that will happen at the end of the world. It is here now in the person of Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Lord, walk with me in this moment —- and in the constant stream of “now” moments of this day — in my every word, gesture, glance, tone, decision. May everything that makes up this day become a ringing proclamation of your rule in my life. You know the people I will encounter and the decisions I need to make. Open my mind and heart to your grace in this moment, so that I can witness to your graciousness in every moment of today.
Contemplation
The kingdom of heaven has come near.