Jesus summoned the Twelve and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  

Referring to Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice in which a "pound of flesh" was necessary to repay a debt, the movie "Seven Pounds" tells the story of Ben Thomas who is overcome with grief for killing seven innocent people in an accident that he caused. He makes the choice to take his own life, but he does it in such a way that he wants to help other people. 

Ben Thomas' thought was a noble thought, but the premise was wrong. A person cannot commit suicide in order to help someone else. There are many people who need help in our world, indeed people who seem to deserve more than they have, but God is in charge of their lives because God has given us life. We should help others as we are able, but even as we help them, we must look after ourselves. Ben Thomas could indeed feel remorse for what he caused, but his remorse should have led him to help by giving of his life rather than giving away his life.

The evangelist Luke's gospel gives only a short explanation of something that had to be of enormous significance for the Twelve, the intimate followers of Jesus Christ. The evangelist simply says that Jesus gave them power and authority and sent them out to proclaim and heal. What it meant for the Twelve was that they were to devote everything they had to what Jesus wanted them to do, namely, to preach about the Kingdom, and enable the people to understand the importance of having Jesus Christ in their midst. In order to accomplish the task, they truly had to embrace the idea of a complete giving of themselves.

In a sense at this point of their lives the Apostles were already giving up their lives for the sake of Jesus. "Giving up their lives" however was only a manner of speaking: they actually only gave of themselves. Ben Thomas in the movie "Seven Pounds" was giving of himself to others, but it was misguided. He could not understand what he was doing because of the mental pain that constantly plagued him. Giving of ourselves to others means that we have their welfare in mind as we give, but it means that we must also respect our own health in the process. Giving of ourselves only makes sense when it improves everyone's life--others and our own.

Jesus wanted the Twelve to begin the process of making the Kingdom known to a world that really needed it. As you and I accept the responsibility of being a follower of Jesus, our job likewise is to bring about the Kingdom by giving of ourselves to others, making the virtues of Jesus' Kingdom to be a governing factor for everyone in the world.            

THOUGHT
 
PRAYER

Good and gracious God, your Son is the ultimate example of giving of oneself. His design was simply to follow your will in bringing about the Kingdom of God on earth. Help us to do our parts in developing that Kingdom. Be with us, we pray. 

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©2007 Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America