Matthew 9:36-10:8
Glory be to Jesus Christ!
Today’s gospel is about evangelization, about mission, about spreading the good news of Jesus Christ. This is something that many Christians today take as seriously as the apostles who Jesus appointed, and rightly so: Jesus commands us in the last verses of Matthew’s Gospel to preach the good news to all nations. What is perhaps more difficult for us to accept is that preaching the good news – even if it’s as simple as trying to convince those we know and meet that our religion is a worthwhile part of our lives – is really spiritual warfare. When Jesus sent out his twelve apostles, he gave them authority over unclean spirits. They were being sent not to teach people about a way of life, a philosophy, about theories and practices that might be useful for reaching a particular goal – no, they were sent to drive out demons, demons that manifest themselves in every crisis of the human condition, especially sin and sickness. It was as if the apostles were Allied soldiers being parachuted into France prior to D-day: they didn’t go to tell people how nice democracy was, and that Fascism was “mean-spirited,” they went to wage war.
So what does this mean from us today? Every time we talk to someone about our faith in Christ, we will be doing battle against spiritual forces that will do anything they can do drive this message from our listener’s hearts. So arm yourself spiritually. Make the sign of the cross, even if only secretly on your forehead; say a prayer that you can listen, and respond carefully and patiently, and that the person you are with will respond. And pray for them once the conversation is over. And remember that the angels are on our side.
