Called by Name
As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Today’s gospel reminds us of the fundamental reality that Jesus calls us all personally. While Jesus calls the Apostles to be the foundations of the Church, he does not just call them as a group. He knows each one and calls them by their name. Jesus knows our name. He calls us into mission, but he does so from a place of intimacy and relationship. In this relationship, he shares his authority with us. We do not act on our own but from the relationship given to us in our baptism. At our baptism, we are named and united to Jesus, and we are given his Holy Spirit. At our baptism, we are called to be priest, prophet and king.
We are given these graces of our baptism so that we can go out into our world to declare that the Kingdom of heaven is near at hand. As we look at our world, we may feel overwhelmed. Yet we can have confidence that God’s Kingdom is in our midst and that we can proclaim this reality. This confidence is based on the fact that Jesus knows us, and we are personally empowered to bring freedom and healing to his people.