Teilhard de Chardin said that, “[s]omeday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.” The fact that this hasn’t happened yet is what God laments in the story of the prophet Hosea. Our creating God continuously lures us toward being all that human beings can be: images of Christ in union with God. In today’s Gospel, Jesus missions the apostles, telling them to preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. How are they to do it? By doing what Jesus did: responding to human needs.
Today, except for raising the dead, we have professionals dedicated to healing body and psyche. Yet, our worst diseases are not curable with medicine, surgery, or therapy. One of today’s greatest problems is our lack of genuine connection with one another. Without noticing it, we have allowed screens to steal our attention and artificial intelligence to tell us what is true. How many of us know the name of football players or characters in television programs, but have little knowledge of our neighbors, or even the person sitting in the pew next to, in front of, or behind us?
Jesus sends out apostles to show the world that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. As apostles, we are invited to explore that Kingdom and introduce others to it. As we learn to enjoy it together, we will gradually realize that we are capable of the fire of love.
