“As you go, make this proclamation: ‘The Kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 10:7).
Summoned by Jesus, the Apostles were sent to proclaim that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, that the God of all creation is present in our midst, and seeks to restore a relationship with his fallen creatures. This invitation is not new with Jesus. The Father has sought reconciliation and unity with his children since the fall. This is present also in our first reading through the words of Hosea who implored the people saying, “it is time to seek the Lord”(Hosea 10:12).
God has reached out and invites, generation after generation, not in some abstract way, but as he has done since he walked in the breezy time of the day with Adam and Eve. He came among them, he drew close to offer reconciliation, forgiveness, and intimacy and he continues to do so.
Salvation history is a record of God’s coming close to encounter and interact with individuals in every age. At the appointed time, our Father sent his Son to open the doors to the deeper trinitarian communion they share with the Holy Spirit. Jesus devoted himself to people, “accepting them, receiving them into fellowship with him and granting them forgiveness of sins. The power of his affirmation is to be found in his attention to the concrete individual, in particular to the despised, the abused, the sinner, but also involving himself with people in a very personal way… in giving himself away to them” (Gnilka 1997, 111).
We, as the Apostles, are called to do the same. Empowered by Jesus, we are not to bring about some abstract utopian ideal, but we are sent to enter into the chaos of the lives of real individuals: with our families and friends, those in our schools, communities, and places of worship, as well as on the margins. With each encounter, which may be the only Bible someone else ever reads, may we become a bridge to helping others to encounter the living Word of God. The Gospel is not just for a select few but for everyone. This is just as true today in our polarized climate of 2026.
Just as the sun rises on the good and the bad alike (cf. Mt 5:45), we are to examine ways in which we have contributed to division and separation instead of invitation. May we get in touch with our wounds as well as the sorrow for the hurt we have caused, for our actions and omissions, and for failing to reach out in love. May we receive and abide in his love that Jesus came to offer and then having received, be willing to be sent to share his love. We do so when we are more present, accepting, patient, understanding, kind, and forgiving person to person. In doing so, we will help people to experience Jesus and his kingdom which is at hand.
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Photo: View of the sunrise from my room. With each breath to welcome the new day I was blessed to receive the rays of the sun along with the love of the Son.
Gnilka, Joachim. Jesus of Nazareth: Message and History. Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1997.
Spiritual Stepping Stones 