Fifteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B (July 15, 2018): Go forth in bold confidence!

In this Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus teaches us about trust. If we’re to fulfill our calling as God’s missionaries of love in this world, if we’re to fulfill our calling to share the Good News, we must trust God and the resources that he provides.

And we must trust that he will always provide exactly what we need when we need it, even though it doesn’t always seem sufficient. It’s important that we don’t feed the inclination to distrust him by expecting anything other than what he provides.

Every Mass ends with a re-commissioning rite for the calling we all have. The final blessing is a sending forth after we’ve been renewed in our relationship with Jesus. His presence in the Word and in the Eucharist and in the Church community re-energizes us (when we pay attention) to boldly go and do all that he asks of us.

Through the priest, Jesus sends us into the world to be the visible proof that he is real and that he’s alive and that he cares. With Jesus, and in him and through him, we are all evangelizers who can make a difference in the world.

Yes, all of us — all of us who have participated in the Eucharistic celebration with conscious awareness of what we are saying and praying and receiving during Mass. Go forth in bold confidence! Jesus is sending you out from the church with his Spirit and his sufficiency.

However, when we do the packing and decide what to take with us on the mission, we like to take an abundance of stuff, just in case we might need it. Thus, we fail to show others that God is reliable and trustworthy.

To be effective evangelizers, we have to surrender over to God whatever baggage interferes with our mission.

Remember this: Surrender is not truly surrender unless we no longer want what we surrendered. If we still have some desire for it, we’re attached to it by a bungee cord that yanks us back to it, yanking us away from our true purpose in life.

Questions for Personal Reflection:
In what areas of your life do you rely upon the Lord? What areas do you still need to entrust to him? What will you do this week to surrender any distrust?

Questions for Community Faith Sharing:
What kind of “food” do others serve you when you rely on God to provide for your needs through them? How does their service to you help them understand God? What kind of baggage should be left at home instead of carrying it into ministry? How does letting go of this better reveal Jesus to others?

Beloved Jesus: Thank you for entrusting to me the precious treasure of Your Word for taking to my neighbors. Increase my faith in You so that, whatever the results, You are my support, my safety and my peace. Amen.