This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.
We see a beautiful and profoundly encouraging dynamic in today’s readings starting chronologically from the gospel, and moving through the events of the first reading, with reflection back in that reading and in the psalm on events leading up to the climax of Jesus’ arrival on earth.
In today’s gospel, Jesus proclaims that “I AM”; He uses for Himself the sacred title of Yahweh, of God. The majesty of this title, which attributes existence itself to God’s nature, is incomparable. And in this context, Jesus is the “Sent” one of the Father. God the Father has sent Jesus, and whoever received Jesus receives not just Jesus, but the Father as well.
But what Jesus says toward the end of the passage carries monumental consequences for our lives: “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me.” So, this divine continuum of “sending” continues down from the Father, to the Son, and then to us.
Does this mean we are divine? Of course not. But it does mean that, when we are in the act of fulfilling the mission He has given us, those hearing us have the responsibility to receive us with all the solemnity with which one would receive Jesus Christ Himself.
We see this play out in our first reading, where Paul fulfills his mission from Jesus by proclaiming salvation in Christ in the synagogue. To build up to the announcement of the great “I AM,” Jesus, he references the colossal preparation for Jesus’ coming that God undertook with the people of Israel; and his build-up is echoed in today’s psalm:
The favors of the LORD I will sing forever;
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your faithfulness.
For you have said, “My kindness is established forever”;
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
Per Jesus’ words in today’s gospel, Paul’s hearers have the obligation to receive his words with the same openness and solemnity with which they would receive Jesus Himself.
We should take immense consolation from this reality. When we are genuinely in the midst of fulfilling in our lives the mission, the vocation that Jesus has given us, we are due a reception like that which Jesus would receive, because we come in His name. As such, we should no longer worry about our shortcomings, personality quirks, poor communication; so many human faults. What merits respect from our hearers is not our personal potpourri of human qualities and skillful performance, but rather the fact that Jesus has sent us. Period.
And when are we “sent” by Jesus? When are we fulfilling our vocation? Whenever we are seeking to do His will in the state of life to which He has called us.
Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to fill you with the confidence of an apostle–not confidence in your own abilities and virtues, but confidence in the nobility of your mission as one sent by Jesus.
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