Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 44:18-21.23b-29.45:1-5; Matthew
10:7-15)
FOCUS, the Fellowship
of Catholic University Students, was founded in the late 1990s to bolster the
faith of Catholic university students.
Its “missionaries” personally raise money for their own upkeep by asking
friends and relatives for donations.
Today the organization has missionaries on 170, mostly secular
campuses. They call Catholic students
together for Scripture study and discipleship training. In some ways FOCUS follows Jesus’ design in
today’s gospel.
However, Jesus does not want his
missionaries to teach at this point.
They are to proclaim the God’s kingdom by actions even more than words. They heal the sick as best they can and drive
out demons of vice and doubt. Their way
of life also proclaims God’s goodness.
They take no money for provisions but depend on the Providence of God working
through the generosity of people. They
are not to worry if people ignore their proclamation. Knowing that they tried, they can wipe the
dust from their feet of the places that showed no interest.
The Church is calling not only campus
missionaries but all Catholics to proclaim the goodness of God. We do this by living our lives as a testimony
to Jesus Christ. Like him we want to
embrace the poor and the suffering. But
for many of us first we have to treat well our children and grandchildren. Like
Jesus also we want to continually express our gratitude to the Father. And like him we want to bear any hardship as
a sacrifice for the salvation of others.
We do not have to know much theology, but we must proclaim the goodness
of God.
