“Jesus summoned the twelve and began to send them out in pairs giving them authority over unclean spirits.”

In his most recent publication on Lectio Divina, Fr Michel de Verteuil indicates that reading and meditating on the Bible text  “reveals to us the truth about life – not abstract truth, but an ideal we hunger and thirst for and, from another perspective, an evil we recoil from.”

In today’s gospel, Jesus summons us, like the twelve, to become missionaries for his truth, a truth that guides us to seek to live in a way that in our hearts we consider to be ideal and according to his will.

The twelve disciples were ordinary folks like you and me. They lived and worked and struggled just like us in trying to meet the demands of daily living. Then they met Jesus, who began to change their entire focus and perspective of life itself.

When has this happened in our lives? A mother notices a change in her teenage son or daughter. She begins to recognise that someone is influencing these changes. A teacher, perhaps or another teenager or someone he or she admires a great deal? She realises that this person is helping to transform the life of her child.

Very often we look to our leaders or those in our authority and we long for the kind of leadership that can bring about healing in our hometowns, in our cities or in our countries. We look to them for positive changes in our society because we chose them to effect the changes we want.

In today’s gospel Jesus is not only summoning his disciples, he is also summoning us - you and I, to become the kind of disciples who will help to transform our hometowns, our cities and our countries.

We do not always have to be part of a large group or be a member of a large organisation or corporation. It might simply mean sharing our personal goals or vision with another person who is willing to walk with us and support us, as well as work with us in order to make our dream a reality.

Like the disciples, Jesus gives us authority over unclean spirits. Who or what are the unclean spirits in our lives? Sometimes they are the negative forces we encounter within ourselves, within our lives or within others.

When Jesus instructs us “to take nothing for the journey except a staff” not even the essentials such as “bread” itself, then one of the truths being revealed here is that we must be totally dependent and trusting on God as we are sent to do his will. The unclean spirits are the forces that undermine this dependence and trust in God.

Jesus reminds his disciples, as well as us, that we will experience rejection just as he did in his own hometown of Nazareth. What do we do? We simply move on bearing no malice or grudges. This is what it means  “to shake off the dust from under your feet as a sign to them.”

We leave in freedom indicating to others that our very service becomes a gift even to our selves – a gift which surpasses the value of everything in our lives even our own personal feelings and emotions.

As we set off today to preach repentance, we should also remember that repentance begins within our very lives. What kind of example do we give to our children, our youths, our co-workers, our employees or even to those in authority?

How often do we gossip about others or engage in reckless drivingthat endanger the lives of others? Do we teach others mainly by preaching, but not by practicing what we do preach? To preach repentance we must first be repentant.

If we do this then we become initiators of healing. We then become healers within society, people who cast out the evils of prejudice, selfishness, greed, arrogance and hatred.

We, become a people who anoint with the oil of our service – a service which is based on our commitment, dependence and trust in Jesus Christ.

Let us pray

Lord, we thank you for your word which is being preached through out the world today.

We thank you for people like Fr Michel who like, Jesus, has summoned many people, even in other parts of the world and empowered them to go out and spread the good news of the gospel, through the method of Lectio Divina.

Lord, we are sorry for the times we refused to go out and preach the message of repentance, because doing so will require our need to repent as well. We are truly sorry for those opportunities we have missed to heal others because of our selfishness and pride.

Lord, we pray for our leaders who seem to lack authority over the unclean spirits or negative forces that presently undermine the stability, security and well being of the society as a whole. Heavenly father, please bless and guide them so that this nation will be healed.

We pray also for the Church, that she will continue to summon disciples who are willing to rely totally on the spirit of Jesus to guide them in the work that they do. We pray that our Church leaders will not become arrogant and thus alienate themselves from those who need to be healed and cured in our parishes and Church communities. Amen.

Gospel Meditations for July are by Dianne Diaz, a primary school teacher.