Wednesday July 12, 2023 Matthew 10:1-7, Ronald Raab, CSC

Dear Believers,

Jesus called the unwieldy twelve. Different sets of brothers, one tax collector, even a man who would later betray Jesus. Jesus called and they followed. Jesus sent them in mission to cure the sick and drive out demons. Jesus’ voice was compelling. The word apostle of course, means, “the one sent”. 

Jesus called them into a relationship with him that was truly eternal. Their call did not melt away in the sun or get washed into the sea. The call was not diminished by their sins, their doubt or even their betrayal. The Kingdom became the new ground upon which they found their identity. The call into the Kingdom of God became more valuable than gold or lofty ambition.   

Last March, I offered a retreat with our Holy Cross Brothers in Austin. I arrived from the airport during lunch. I sat across from a brother who is 95 years old. He immediately admitted to me that he lived his vocation in Brazil for 50 years. He whispered to me that he I left his heart there. Then he said to me that no one had asked him about his life and experiences in his new home in Austin. He breathed in and said that his vocation now is to find his heart in a new way. He told me over sipping his soup that he was afraid of such unknown wilderness.   

We, too, have the experience in our professed religious life of being sent. Now, in our lives God gives us a different mission. We are called more deeply into our souls.  Our hearts discover a new territory of love. Jesus who once called us into the world, calls us now to live with great intention and purpose and even a deeper love. In this place, we are to realize our call does not fade with time or age. The call of God in our lives does not expire or find its completion when we age out of our jobs.  No illness or disease, memory loss or body pain, can separate us from the call implanted in our hearts to follow Christ, to live as religious and priests.  

Our call did not end in the wars of Uganda or in the mountains of Peru. It was not finished when we taught our last college semester or when we left the parish. Our call does not end even though our hearing is impaired or our knees are artificial. Our call as baptized people may look different on the outside as we age, but remains intact in the threads of our souls.    

We can never forget our spiritual calling to follow Christ. We need to help one another. God is still calling us among lost sheep. Jesus is still challenging us to proclaim the presence of the Kingdom of God. Jesus still asks us to repent and to forgive. Jesus still desires us to heal the demons of our inner lives and to touch the mystery of God’s fidelity. Our hearts in Holy Cross House are the territory in which Jesus calls each of us. So, we pray this inner journey.  

As you go and as we age, make this proclamation: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.”

God give you peace.