Scripture Reflection for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time:
2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16
Psalm 89:2-3, 16-17, 18-19
Romans 6:3-4, 8-11
Matthew 10:37-42
"I drew nearer to God, fully realizing that I had found what I was looking for," wrote St. Thérèse of Lisieux in her "Story of a Soul." She was talking about the "little way," her vocation, the way of love.
She had searched so long, you see, for what God had wanted her to do, and the "little way" of love is what she found. "At last, I have found my vocation. My vocation is love! I have found my place in the bosom of the Church," she wrote.
Being little, loving in all things: that's what Saint Thérèse discovered, that's what God wanted her to do. And ultimately, that's what made her a saint, becoming a "little flower."
Now perhaps like me, reading this Sunday's gospel, maybe you will think of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux too. I mean, she almost perfectly embodied what Jesus is talking about in this reading from Matthew. She exemplified, again almost perfectly, the apostolic virtue of littleness that Jesus is recommending not only to his apostles but to us.
That is, will the apostles dare to be little? The littleness Jesus is talking about is the sort of littleness one sees in the life of saints like Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. It's littleness that should characterize each Christian. It's the littleness that comes from completely trusting in God, the littleness of refusing to rely on one's own power and will.
To understand this, it's good to go back and read the whole of Matthew 10. In this chapter Jesus calls the twelve disciples and then sends them out on mission. After giving them a few instructions, Jesus says, "Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Matthew 10:16). Then he goes on to tell them they'll likely be arrested, "dragged before governors and kings." He says to them, "you will be hated by all" (Matthew 10:16-22). Sounds like fun, doesn't it?
But notice what follows. Jesus doesn't explain why necessarily the apostles will face all this adversity; he doesn't, for example, go on a rant about the wickedness of the Romans or the Sadducees. Instead, he begins to talk about imitation. He says, "it is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher" (Matthew 10:25). That is, as he sends the apostles out on mission, Jesus tells them that the troubles they will face are the same ones he faces. The invitation to join in the mission of the Church, you see, is fundamentally an invitation to imitate Christ.
That's why Jesus tells the disciples to fear only God; "rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body," he says (Matthew 10:28). That exhortation has a very garden of Gethsemane ring to it if you ask me. That is, just as he did, Jesus is strengthening the disciples to offer their wills to the will of the Father. He's telling them to buckle up.
And then comes talk of the cross; "he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me," Jesus says (Matthew 10:38). Now this should be clear to believers, this invitation to follow Christ in suffering and death. It's just that as we hear it now within the context of apostolic commissioning, it makes us think about the nature of Christian mission generally, and about Christian ministry generally, even our ministries.
Again, the invitation to join in mission is an invitation to imitate Christ. That's the lesson. That's why Jesus says, "Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." That's also why he calls the disciples "little ones" (Matthew 10:40-42). Because, of course, Jesus is a little one, the Lord who "did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped" (Philippians 2:6-7).
And so, what does this mean? It means that when we consider our vocation, our calling or our ministry, we should see it not merely as some divinely given job or as a task that just needs to get done because no one else will do it. Rather, we should realize that it's also how we imitate Christ; that our ministry, whatever it is, is that which offers us the way of the cross, the way of faithfulness and redemption.
Now if you're currently mired in stress and struggle in your ministry or vocation, this will not necessarily make you feel better, for it doesn't at all relieve you of any stress or struggle. And I don't really know what I can say to you about that. It is what it is. But I can tell you that what this passage suggests is that you're not alone in your stress and struggles; Christ is with you. And he whispers to you not to fear and that there is such a thing as a righteous reward.
But only if, like St. Thérèse of Lisieux, you see the wisdom of wanting to be a little one.
Father Joshua J. Whitfield is pastor of St. Rita Catholic Community in Dallas and author of "The Crisis of Bad Preaching" (Ave Maria Press, $17.95) and other books.
