06/14/2026
Jesus’ Heart, ever overflowing with love, is moved with pity for the people before Him. He sees their struggles, their anguish, their abandonment, their desires. He sees that they are “like sheep without a shepherd,” and it is clear that there must be more “laborers for the harvest.”
Jesus is fulfilling the ancient promises to erect a new Israel, a new Chosen People based not on race but on their acceptance of Him and His teaching. So He calls twelve disciples, signifying a link between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, between the twelve tribes of Israel and the new Kingdom He has come to establish. He sends these disciples out first to the “lost sheep of Israel.” The Gentiles would have to wait until after the Resurrection to hear the Gospel, but with this first mission of the disciples, the Lord is beginning to spread his Kingdom to the whole world.
Jesus gives them authority, bestows on them His own authority over evil in the world. And His instructions to them mirror exactly what He has been doing in recent miracles: He has been proclaiming that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, curing the sick, raising the dead, cleansing the lepers, and driving out demons. These first collaborators have watched the Master in action and now He sends them to do as He has done, trusting that God will take care of all their needs. The work of the Church continues in the same way until the end of time, allowing Christ to continue the work of salvation. In the teaching, leading, and sanctifying ministry of the Church, Jesus continues the work He began with the twelve apostles. Jesus later instructed them to “go and make disciples,” and it is the role of the Church to continue this very work, and help those disciples to grow in holiness so that they can also go and make more disciples!
This is our mandate as well. The Catechism tells us that the “[s]ervice of and witness to the faith are necessary for salvation” (CCC #1816). We are baptized into the Person and the Mission of Christ, and we are sent to bring the Gospel to others. And as we do so, we experience its power even more. We don’t need to be perfect before we start – Jesus sent His disciples out before they could wholly understand the fullness of the Kingdom, and we are also called to trust the Lord and labor for the Kingdom, just as we are. If we acknowledge our own limitedness and trust in God, He will do the work. We need nothing but to go in His Name, for His glory and a true desire for the good of others. He will do the rest.
