Two by Two - Prepared and Ready

Two by Two - Prepared and Ready
Homily for Sunday, July 12, 2015
Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time - B
by Dcn Bob Bonomi

Okay, here’s what I want you all to do.  As soon as Mass has ended, I want you all to pick a nearby town and walk there.  Let’s have some of you go to Prosper; some all the way to Celina, maybe some of you to Little Elm.  How about some go to McKinney – you should be able to make that in a day, don’t you think? Take nothing with you other than the clothes on your back, and once you got there just start knocking on doors until someone invites you in to stay with them.  I want you to spend the week telling them and anyone who will listen about Jesus.  No?

You can pair up with someone – it can be friend if you like or maybe someone that you know that knows someone there – I just don’t want you to go alone this time.  And if you already live there, you have to go to a different town.  

Ready?  No?  You know, there are those who do just that today.  Did you know that seminarians who are currently attending the Redemptorist Mater Seminary – they are a missionary religious order – as part of their priestly formation have to spend two years in missionary work that begins with a week spent like these 12 – dropped into an area to evangelize without any resources other than the clothes on their backs and a ticket home after the week is over.  They usually have a list of parishes in their area and hopefully they find a kindly priest that will put them up for the week, but if not – it’s park bench time.

But most of us don’t think that way.  Before we go on a trip somewhere, we have to prepare for it.  If we’re flying somewhere, we normally book our plane tickets weeks in advance – can you imagine walking up to the ticket counter at the airport and buying a ticket for that day’s flight?  And what about luggage, changes of clothes, hotel reservations – there’s a myriad of things that we have to plan in advance of our trip.

Even if it an emergency, we still do some prep work.  Rarely do we travel blindly; most of us have some sort of idea before we ever leave the house where we are going and, especially nowadays, we’d at least have a cell phone and a credit card to get us through whatever might come up.

But one way or another, we prepare.  Usually the better prepared we are, the more likely our travel will be a success, even if things don’t go like we planned.  There was a heart-warming story in the news last week when three sisters who had disappeared into the Wyoming wilderness were found safe after three days of being lost; the spokesman for the rescue team said that the girls were well-prepared for hiking; they had the proper clothes and gear, and they stayed together.  When they were found they were hungry, but safe.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends the 12 Apostles forth in pairs.  They were to take nothing with them except, at least in St. Mark’s version of the Gospel, a staff and sandals, but nothing extra.  In Matthew’s (10:1) and Luke’s (9:10) versions, the twelve weren’t even allow those things.  The one thing that Jesus gave them to take was His authority over unclean spirits, to exorcize demons, the power to heal illnesses.

All had authority.  All were not to wander around but stay wherever they landed.  All were dependent upon the providence of God.

But were the Apostles unprepared for their assignment?  No.  They had been traveling with Jesus for some time and would be somewhat used to depending on the kindness and providence of strangers – remember Jesus telling prospective disciples that “the Son of Man has no place to lay His head”?

And they were not alone.  Jesus sent them out, “2 by 2”.  This did a couple of things.  First, two people were the minimum number of witnesses that were required in Jewish tradition to verify the truth of something.  Second and more importantly, though, they would be able to encourage each other during those times when they would not be accepted.   They wouldn’t be alone.  Remember, Jesus tells us that “whenever 2 or more are gathered in My name, I am with them.”  And before you think that the twelve were more “special” than His other disciples, in Luke’s Gospel we see that after the twelve return He later sends out 72 more!

In addition, all three Gospels state that Jesus conferred “authority” on the 12 to fulfill their mission of preaching repentance. Through their faith they would be able to cure those they encountered who were sick or possessed. They were well-prepared for their evangelical mission.

So, what about us?  Are we ready?  Each Sunday at the end of Mass, we are sent into the world to carry forth the same mission that Jesus gave to the 12.  The EXACT same mission.  We journey every Sunday with Jesus, and if we’ve spent any time in prayer, we should be confident that our faith should help us face whatever obstacle arises to our mission.

So, let’s go.  Ask a friend to join with you and go!  Or, invite the person beside you in the pew.  And, to make it a little less intimidating, today just take the message to someone in the parking lot as you leave. Today, when you receive Christ in the Eucharist, think about how Christ is now in you and will be with you as you undertake the mission given to you at the end of Mass.  Then go forth and proclaim the Gospel with your lives.

You have been prepared.  But, are you ready?