SUMMONED TO PREACH

I go to the school, to my office, in my Dominican habit. As students see me, they would approach me and make a "mano po" to me asking my blessing. The distance between my office and the entrance gate is just a couple of meters. However, it will take me some time to arrive in my office as students would swarm on me. Their eagerness to approach a priest is evident as they would run towards me when they see a person in white. The scenario would be different when sometimes I would go to the office in my civilian clothes. They would barely recognize me as a priest and pass by me. In less than a minute, I am already in my office. Children nowadays, indeed, are hungry for the presence of God, which they may see in men of the cloth. Even without opening one’s mouth, one can proclaim the presence of God amid His people, through one's way of life. 

With an ardent desire to hear the word of God, the Israelites prompted the prophet Ezra to bring out the book of the Law and read it before them (Neh 8:1-4A, 5-6, 7B-12). As Ezra read the Law, the people listened attentively. They were even moved to tears. They were touch by the Word of God uttered before them. In their suffering, they were consoled by the Word of God proclaimed before them by the prophet. Indeed, the precepts of the Lord give joy to the heart. As the law of the LORD is perfect, refreshing the soul; the decree of the LORD is trustworthy, giving wisdom to the simple (cf. Ps 19:8-11). The Israelites were available to experience the power of God's words through the readiness of God's ministers (Ezra and Nehemiah) to attend to the needs of God's people. 

In the Gospel (Lk 10:1-12), Jesus sent His disciples two by two, to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God through the peace, healing, and reconciliation they bring to the people to whom they will administer. They were sent in pairs so that even without opening their mouths, their treatment with one another, their way of life would become their first preaching. Today, the harvest remains to be abundant but the laborers are still few. The great challenge for the few laborers is how they can make their proclamation more effective and affective; one that touches the lives of the persons they meet. The life we live speaks more eloquently than the words we utter. In our action, and even in the clothes we wear, God is made more visible and present to others. Jesus bid his disciples to carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; that people may see His disciples' reliance on Divine Providence. That though they may be like sheep sent among wolves, they would remain dependent on their one true Shepherd who would never forsake them. The life we live is our greatest testimony (witnessing; preaching) to the vocation God called us to embrace.  

In our baptism, we are all made prophets by God; summoned to preach the truth of the Gospel we receive to the people we meet in our life. The challenge to us who are sent to proclaim the Good News is to make the proclamation desirable to others, as the Word of God, and God Himself has millions of competitors over the attention of people. Will people be moved in tears as we proclaim the Word of God? Will they be drawn to God; to God's presence, even just through the way we dress?