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“Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their
synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and curing every
disease and illness.” Matthew 9:35
This one line speaks volumes about Jesus’ public ministry. He
didn’t just preach a few sermons or heal a few who were sick. He
“went around to all the towns and villages…teaching…proclaiming the
Gospel…” and cured “every disease and illness.”
It’s important to contemplate that Jesus’ public ministry lasted
approximately three years. Three years of constant preaching,
healing, and relating to people. During this time, Jesus
encountered many thousands of individuals, and news of His works
spread throughout Israel and beyond.
Yet, the rest of today’s Gospel reveals that Jesus’ public
ministry, though perfect in every way, was just the beginning. It
was the foundation upon which His ongoing ministry would be
established through the formation of His Church.
As the Gospel continues, we gain insight into Jesus’ compassionate
heart. When He looked at the crowds, “his heart was moved with pity
for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep
without a shepherd.” His three years of ministry were only the
foundation, and His merciful Heart began to overflow with
compassion.
Though He is God, Jesus limited Himself to human interactions
within time and space, making it impossible for Him to engage
personally with every troubled and abandoned soul in His human
form. That’s why He told His disciples to “ask the master of the
harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” After this, He
summoned His Twelve Apostles, gave them authority to share in His
ministry of preaching and healing, and sent them out to the “lost
sheep of the house of Israel.”
Later, as recorded in Luke 10:1–2, Jesus expanded His mission even
further by sending out seventy (or seventy-two) disciples ahead of
Him as He and the Twelve began their final journey to Jerusalem
where He would suffer and die. After His resurrection, Jesus
further commissioned His Apostles to “Go, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe
all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). This mission
quickly spread to at least 120 disciples gathered in the upper
room, and as the Holy Spirit continued to guide the early Church,
thousands of new converts became evangelists, spreading the Word of
God.
Reflect today on Jesus’ Sacred Heart, overflowing with compassion
for all who feel “troubled and abandoned.” It is your mission to be
Christ’s Heart to them—to love them, to long for their burdens to
be lifted, and to lead them to Christ, the Good Shepherd. Do not
shy away from this mission, for the mission you are given is a
continuation of and participation in the one eternal mission of
Jesus Himself.
Most holy and Good Shepherd, Your human Heart burns with the
perfection of divine love and longs to touch every soul in need of
Your mercy. Please transform my heart into Yours so that I may have
Your zeal for the salvation of all whom I encounter and become a
fitting instrument of Your divine presence in the world. Jesus, I
trust in You.
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