In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 10:1-7, Jesus summons His twelve disciples. The passage names them for us and Jesus….
gave them authority over unclean spirits to drive them out and to cure every disease and every illness
He gave them some other explicit directions and the passage finishes saying…
As you go, make this proclamation: “The Kingdom of heaven is at hand”
We who try to follow Jesus have been, by our baptism, given the same instructions as we go about living our lives for the glory of God. How can we best make the proclamation that “the Kingdom of heaven is at hand” to our families, friends, coworkers and all the people God sends to us on our journey? How do we do it without making those we love and care about run for cover from the “Jesus Freak”?
What I think works for me is to act like Christ. Acting like Him brings the best out in me and also the best out of others. People who know me know how much I love the Lord. Those who might meet me for the first time will only know how much I love Christ by the way that I love them. I used to try to preach and teach Christ and that did not work for me. First of all, I do not know enough to preach and teach but I know enough of how to strive to be loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, generous, faithful and gentle with people. Those are some of the fruit of the Holy Spirit that would be good for all of us to practice on a regular basis. I would say in doing that, we are proclaiming that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Seeking To Reflect Jesus 