Welcome Remarks:

Hello everyone! Once again, welcome to The Feast Dasma Bible Study Online! And as always, we hope
that you could stay with us again tonight as we share and study the word of God. I’m Bheng Gracia with
my partner here, Ching Gracia. Always remember, Wednesday is Bible Study day!

Kamustahan muna!
- Ask for prayers, petitions, intentions.
- Ask for those who have birthdays and anniversaries today.
- Invite to write comments, opinions, suggestions and any questions about the gospel for the day.
- Ask to like, share, and subscribe to our page.

Opening prayer
Father God, tonight we lift each and every one present here today in this online Bible Study, we humbly
ask for your Holy Spirit to guide us and enlighten us once again as we study your words. And in by doing
to, may you free us from darkness and keep us in the radiance of Your truth.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,

who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 10:1-7 / Mark 6:7-11 ; 3:13-19 / Luke 6:12-16 ; 9:1-6 ; 10:3
Matthew 10:1-7 (NRSVCE)
The Twelve Apostles
10 Then Jesus[a] summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first,
Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip
and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;
[b] 4
Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.
The Mission of the Twelve
5
These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter
no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim the
good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’[c]

Gospel Background:
• The second great Discourse: (The first is the Sermon on the Mount)
The Discourse of the Mission begins in chapter 10 of the Gospel of Matthew, which is the Gospel for
today.
- Matthew organizes his Gospel as a new edition of the Law of God or like a new “Pentateuch” with
its five books.
- For this reason his Gospel presents five great discourses or teachings of Jesus followed by a
narrative part, in which he describes the way in which Jesus puts into practice what He had taught
in the discourses.

The following is the outline:

Introduction: The birth and preparation of the Messiah (Mt 1 to 4)

a) Sermon on the Mount: The entrance door into the Kingdom (Mt 5 to 7)
Narrative Mt 8 and 9
b) Discourse on the Mission: How to proclaim and spread the Kingdom (Mt 10)
Narrative Mt 11 and 12
c) Discourse on the Parables: The mystery of the Kingdom present in life (Mt 13)
Narrative Mt 14 to 17
d) Discourse on the Community: The new way of living together in the Kingdom (Mt 18)
Narrative 19 to 23
e) Discourse on the future coming of the Kingdom: The utopia (from Greek word eu-topos = a good
place) which sustains hope (Mt 24 and 25)

Conclusion: Passion, death and Resurrection (Mt 26 to 28)

• Today’s Gospel presents to us the beginning of the Discourse on the Mission in which the importance is
placed on three aspects:
(a) The call of the disciples (Mt 10:1);
(b) The list of the names of the twelve Apostles who will be the recipients of the Discourse on the Mission
(Mt 10:2-4);
(c) The sending out of the twelve Apostles (Mt 10:5-7).

• Matthew 10:1: The call of the twelve disciples. “Then Jesus[a] summoned his twelve disciples and gave
them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness.”

Matthew had already spoken about the call of the disciples (Mt 4:18-22; Mt 9:9). That’s why the “calling”
here is not a mere calling, but a deeper one. Meaning, the disciples already have a deeper relationship with
Jesus and when He summoned them He knew that they were all ready to answer.

Much like today, we cannot say that we are ready, unless we already have a deeper relationship with God
after the initial “calling” from Him. And as soon as we decide to answer that first call, we then becomes his
disciple. One that is ready to follow and be trained, so that when we are ready, He will then call us again to
be an Apostle to go on a mission wherever or whoever He send us to.

Para lang po sa kaalaman ng lahat, the word Apostle came from the Greek word “Apostolos,” meaning “he
who is sent” or a “messenger” to deliver the teachings that he formerly learned from his teacher. While a
disciple is primarily a “student” learning from a teacher. And so, we can say that
all apostles were disciples but all disciples are not apostles.

So in our Gospel, this calling was a stepping-up ceremony for the disciples who were chosen & were then
called Apostles by Jesus for the mission. (Luke 6:12-13). And by calling them as such, they now have
authority given by Jesus himself for the mission.

Here, at the beginning of the Discourse on the Mission, St. Matthew presents a summary:
- “He summoned His twelve disciples, and gave them authority over unclean spirits with power to
drive them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and all kinds of illness.”

- The task, or the mission, of the disciple is to follow Jesus, the Master, forming community with
Him and carrying out the same mission of Jesus: to drive out unclean spirits, to cure all sorts of
diseases and all sorts of illness.

In Mark’s Gospel they receive the same two-fold mission, formulated with other words:
Jesus constituted the group of twelve to remain with Him and to send them out to preach and cast out
devils” (Mk 3:14-15). How did Jesus wanted the 12 Apostles to do the mission?
1) To be with Him, that is to form a community, in which Jesus is the center.
2) To preach and to be able to cast out devils, that is, to announce the Good News and to conquer the force
of evil which destroys the life of the people and alienates people.

Luke says that Jesus prayed the whole night, and the following day He called the disciples. Why did Jesus
prayed the whole night? He prayed to God so as to know whom to choose among his disciples (Lk 6:12-13).

With Christ as their center they were empowered with the ability to battle evil and heal all sorts of
sickness, as a visible witness to the unbelieving world around them. And God did not see simply their
limitations but their unlimited potential if they choose to respond to His voice.

Remember, majority of the Apostles were fishermen. Meaning, their education is focused on how to fish
and nothing else. But to Jesus, it doesn’t matter who they are or what they do, God sees the heart and not
mere appearance. “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward
appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7)
And yet, the call of the twelve is our calling too! What is the connection of giving name in baptism? When
we were baptized, we become a disciple of Christ, we become anointed with the same anointing that Jesus
received. We share in his mission, because we too were called!

This anointing is a stirring reminder of the sublime dignity conferred on us. We, too, must embrace these
shared offices of priest, prophet, and king.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church is clear about the priestly office.

Baptism makes us members of the Body of Christ. … “to be a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:5). By
Baptism they share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission. They are “a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people …” (1 Peter 2:9). Baptism gives a
share in the common priesthood of all believers (CCC, 1267, 1268).
Now, don’t be confused with these words, this doesn’t mean that you should become a priest. When we
talk about participating in the priestly mission of Christ, there are two participations in the one priesthood
of Christ.

Priesthood is not an exclusive reference to the clergy. Ordained priests, by Holy Orders, become members
of the ministerial priesthood. Yet the common priesthood designates all the baptized, and sharing in the
priesthood of Christ begins at one’s Baptism.

The common priesthood and the ministerial priesthood worship together at Mass. We are a priestly
community. The lay faithful worship alongside the ordained priest(s). Both make offerings to God. The
priest is specifically ordained to confect the Eucharist — to offer and consecrate the bread and wine — on
behalf of those gathered. The laity, too, actively participate by offering themselves and their gifts and
sacrifices to God.

Christ, high priest and unique mediator, has made of the Church “a kingdom, priests for his God
and Father” (Revelation 1:6, see 5:9–10; 1 Peter 2:5,9). … The faithful exercise their baptismal
priesthood through their participation, each according to his own vocation, in Christ’s mission as
priest, prophet, and king (CCC, 1546).

Prophets and Kings

Besides the priestly office, there is also a prophetic and a kingly one. In the ministerial priesthood, these
are fulfilled by preaching and teaching and in governance of the Church.

So, how do we, as members of the body of Christ live these prophetic and kingly offices? Vatican II
described the lay vocation this way:

[I]t belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing
them according to God’s will … so to illuminate and order all temporal things with which they are
closely associated that these may always be effected and grow according to Christ and may be to the
glory of the Creator and Redeemer (CCC, 898).

And so we, the laity, must bring Christ to our families, friends, relatives, and the people we meet with faith
through the grace of the sacraments. Kaya nga po pagkatapos ng mass, we the faithful are sent out to go
and serve Christ wherever life takes us. Tanong! What does Mass mean?

The English word “Mass” comes from the Latin word missa, which means to be “sent.” This Latin word
has been used since the 6th or 7th century to describe the Catholic celebration of the Eucharist, our main
liturgical service. The word is used during the conclusion of the celebration, when the priest or deacon says
in Latin, Ite, missa est. The literal translation of that phrase is, “Go, it has been sent.”

For us Christians, the end of the mass is actually the beginning of our mission! Of being sent! And in the
words of Pope Benedict the XIV, he made it abundantly clear when he developed new words for the
dismissal at Mass. He approved the phrases,
“Ite ad Evangelium Domini annuntiandum (Go and announce the Gospel of the Lord)” and

“Ite in pace, glorificando vita vestra Dominum (Go in peace, glorifying the Lord by your life).”

Both of these dismissals focus on the missionary character of the Mass and how we sitted in the pews are
meant to go out in the world, sustained by the Eucharist we have just received.

Believe it or not, we Christians are front liners and we are to be expected very much in the front lines for
Christianity, to consecrate the world, to make it holy. This understanding was expressed by Pope Pius XII
and later echoed by St. John Paul II:

Lay believers are in the front line of Church life; for them the Church is the animating principle of
human society. Therefore, they in particular ought to have an ever-clearer consciousness not only of
belonging to the Church, but of being the Church (CCC, 899).

The laity act prophetically when they speak the truth, and live the Gospel by example before their
families, neighbors, and co-workers. Their mission is “accomplished in the ordinary circumstances
of the world” (CCC, 905).

The laity’s kingly office is exercised by their leadership in temporal affairs, acting as Christ would. Jesus,
the king of heaven, gave his life to conquer sin and death, to bring resurrection and new life. By bringing
Christ’s leadership and governance in our own spheres, we offer renewal and new life where it is most
needed.

“Moreover, by uniting their forces let the laity so remedy the institutions and conditions of the world
when the latter are an inducement to sin, that these may be conformed to the norms of justice,
favoring rather than hindering the practice of virtue. By so doing they will impregnate culture and
human works with a moral value” (CCC, 909; Lumen Gentium, No. 36 § 3).

Finally, lay leadership helps the local church to flourish.

“The laity … cooperate with their pastors … for the sake of [church] growth and life … through the
exercise of different kinds of ministries according to the grace and charisms which the Lord has been
pleased to bestow on them” (CCC, 910; Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 73).

Having heard the Good News, we are also given the responsibility to actively witness the Gospel in our
lives this very day.

Do you feel you lack the gifts or talents necessary for the task? Not to worry, there isn’t a commission
given or a challenge encountered that He will not equip us with the right tools if it is His will.

For this reason, our daily discernment of just how we are being asked to respond to God’s call can only be
begun through our prayerful desire to know that will.

It is obvious that Jesus began a structured institution, the Church, with the power to develop with it’s
divinely endowed constitution with Him as the head and we are the body with different parts. We may then
say that in this mission is the start of Christianizing first, the people of God, and then the world.

Verse 2-4 - The list of the names of the Twelve Apostles. 2 These are the names of the twelve apostles:
first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother
John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and
Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

First, if you notice, their names where attached to their Fathers, as was the tradition of the Jews.
A good number of these names come from the Old Testament. For example;
- Simon is the name of one of the sons of the Patriarch Jacob (Gen 29:33).
- James is the same as Jacob (Gen 25:26).
- Judas is the name of another son of Jacob (Gen 35:23).
- Matthew also had the name of Levi (Mk 2:14), who was another son of Jacob (Gen 35:23).
Of the Twelve Apostles seven have a name which comes from the time of the Patriarchs.
- Two are called Simon;
- Two are called James;
- Two are called Judas;
- One Levi!
- Only one has a Greek name: Philip.

Anong ibig ipahiwatig nito? This reveals the people’s desire to start history again from the beginning! It is
in this names of the first Apostles that we inherited the naming of babies their Christian names. Perhaps it
is good to think about the names which are given today to children when they are born, because each one
of us is called by God by his/her name. (Isa. 43:1 – “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O
Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you
are mine.”

The moment we were baptized, we became God’s own, He has redeemed us and so, He is the only one
worthy of saying, “You are mine!” Kaya yung mga nagsasabi na, katawan ko ito, kung gusto kong
ipalaglag ang bata sa tiyan ko, walang sino man ang pwedeng makialam! Sorry, but you are terribly and
horribly mistaken! Sabi ni Lord, “You are mine!” St. Paul said, “…you were bought at a price. Therefore
honor God with your bodies.” (1 Cor. 6:20)

Verse 5-7 – The sending out or the mission of the twelve apostles to the lost sheep of Israel. 5 These
twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of
the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of
heaven has come near.’

After having given the list of the names of the twelve, Jesus sends them out with the following command:
“Do not make your way to gentile territory, and do not enter any Samaritan town. Go instead to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven is close at hand.”

In this one command there is a three-fold insistence on showing that the preference of the mission is
for the house of Israel:
(1) Do not go among the gentiles,
(2) Do not enter into the towns of the Samaritans,
(3) Rather, go to the lost sheep of Israel.

Here appears a response to the doubt of the first Christians concerning opening up to pagans. Paul, who
strongly affirmed the openness to the gentiles, agrees in saying that the Good News of Jesus should first
be announced to the Jews and then to the gentiles (Rm 9:1-11, 36; cf. Acts 1:8; 11:3; 13:46; 15:1, 5, 23-
29).

But then, in the same Gospel of Matthew, in the conversation of Jesus with the Canaanite woman,
openness to the gentiles will occur (Mt 15:21-29).

• The sending out of the Apostles to all peoples.

After the Resurrection of Jesus, there are several episodes on the sending out of the Apostles not only to
the Jews, but to all peoples.

In Matthew: “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to observe everything which I have commanded. And I will
be with you until the end of time” (Mt 28:19-20).

In Mark: “Go to the entire world, proclaim the Good News to all creatures. Those who will believe and
will be baptized will be saved; those who will not believe will be condemned” (Mk 16:15).

In Luke: "So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that in
His name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from
Jerusalem. You are witnesses to this” (Lk 24:46-48; Acts 1:8)
John summarizes all in one sentence: “As the Father has sent Me, so I also send you!” (Jn 20:21).