Disciples, with a heart
There is a story about three men who were drunk and trying to catch the train, which was already pulling out of the station. The train conductor saw the three running after the train, so from the back of the train, he pulls in the first one, then the second one. Finally, he tries to pull the third, but fails. Wanting to commiserate with the man left behind, the train stationmaster says “Sorry, my friend, that you were left behind.” And the guy says, “Yah, I’m sorry, too, but more so for my two companions. You see, they were here just to see me off!’’
As we travel through life, it can happen that which is most important is the one that is left behind or forgotten. In the Gospel today (Matthew 9:36-10:8) Jesus reminds His disciples of what is really important in their mission: passion and compassion. They were to be disciples with a passion to spread the kingdom and to carry out their mission to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and proclaim the Good News. But they were to do so with compassion, especially to the lost sheep. They were to be disciples with passion (not just for fashion) but more so disciples with a mission filled with compassion, disciples with a heart.
Discipleship is not so much doing, but being. Go down the list of the 12 apostles and you’ll notice that nothing was said to describe what they did—except Matthew, “the tax collector,” and Judas, “who betrayed Him.” Perhaps that should lead to deeper appreciation of our personhood rather than of our so-called achievements, not so much of what we carry in our hands, but what we carry in our hearts.
Pray for us your priests. May we become real fathers to the sheep, filled with passion for God’s mission, and with hearts full of compassion for His people. May we not be tempted to stray from our mission because of worldly “commission,” and personal “consomisyon” and worldly ambition.
When leaders are so busy minding and holding on to their political ship, and are so focused on the financial shape of their pockets, then they forget the sheep. We do not have a poverty of leaders in the Philippines. Yes, we have a surplus of leaders who work for themselves, but we do have a shortage of leaders who really work for the sheep. True laborers are few. The masters are aplenty in this country—masters of deceit, masters of fraud, masters of corruption, masters of “magic.” You name it, we’ve got it. In the meantime, again we ask: who is minding the sheep?
Are we really listening? Here we are discussing, debating, quarrelling about government, while the people go hungry and go deeper into poverty. All the talk about flood control and impeachment boils down to only one issue—truth. The sheep don’t want more talks. They want the truth. They need truthful shepherds and they need food, and they need them now. They need shepherds who will lead them to greener pastures. “Ask the master of the harvest to send the laborers for his harvest.” Pray. Let us pray for good, truthful, and able leaders in our land.
The apostles had appendages written to their names: Simon, called Peter; James, the son of Zebedee; Judas Iscariot, the traitor, etc. What appendage will be written after your name? _________ who loved much? Who worked much? Who lied much? Who worried much? Who fought much? Who was too much? It’s really all up to you. God provides the paper. You hold the pencil. It is you who write your life, all original. No fake or spliced copies. It is God who does the counting. He knows the score, and that cannot be tampered with.
Fr. Flavie Villanueva, SVD, confrere and friend, this is for you: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven; Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you, and utter every kind of evil against you falsely because of Me; Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12)
To be true disciples with a heart, we must continue to come closer to the Lord and not go far from Him (“Lapit lang kay Lord!”); we must continue to hold on to the Lord and not let go of Him (“Kapit lang kay Lord!”); and we must continue to stay with the Lord, and not go away from Him (“Lagi lang kay Lord!”). Remember, we are disciples with a Master; without a Master, we end up vain, empty, shallow, and selfish functionaries or mercenaries.
A moment with the Lord:
Lord, help us to be your disciples, with a heart. Amen.
