PROCLAIM ON THE HOUSETOPS

Is 6,1-8; Ps 92; Mt 10,24-33
14 JULY
Jesus came to kindle the very pure light of the Father’s truth on earth. He is the bright light of the Father. His disciple was lit by him as the true light of God. The light is turned on to be placed on high. It must illuminate the whole house of the world. It is useless to turn the light on if it is then placed under a bushel.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lamp stand, where it gives light to all in the house. Just so, your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father (Mt 5,13-16).

Saint Paul sees the disciples of Jesus, like the sun and like the stars. He asks them to shine with all the truth that is in the Word of Jesus. The whole world must see their light.

So then, my beloved, obedient as you have always been, not only when I am present but all the more now when I am absent, work out your salvation with fear and trembling. For God is the one who, for his good purpose, works in you both to desire and to work. Do everything without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life, so that my boast for the day of Christ may be that I did not run in vain or labour in vain. But, even if I am poured out as a libation upon the sacrificial service of your faith, I rejoice and share my joy with all of you. In the same way you also should rejoice and share your joy with me (Phil 2,12-18).

Besides being light, Jesus asks them to be his Word, his voice, his thought and his truth. But not the word, voice, thought and truth hidden in the heart. They must cry out from the terraces what they have heard from him for all the days of their life.

No disciple is above his teacher, no slave above his master. It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, for the slave that he become like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more those of his household! “Therefore do not be afraid of them. Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father.

The evangelizing mission serves this purpose: to make the Word by listened by every man.

He said to them, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned. These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents (with their hands), and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” So then the Lord Jesus, after he spoke to them, was taken up into heaven and took his seat at the right hand of God. But they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the word through accompanying signs (Mk 16,15-20).

Let suppose illogically that the Christian does not say the Word because the world does not want it, the other commandment remains, that of being light and not depending on the world.

Mother of God, Angels and Saints, put a little light into the minds of Jesus’ disciples.