“These twelve Jesus sent: commanding them, saying: ‘Go ye not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the city of the Samaritans enter ye not. But go ye rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And going, preach, saying: The kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils: freely have you received, freely give.’”
The apostles, being given the power of Jesus, are immediately sent to do good to the children of Israel. So too does heeding love’s voice call you forward, with the Lord placing before you those that need love, that you may give them what they need. They are not sent before they are ready, however; consider the great number of miracles and acts of love they had themselves seen from Jesus before this time. So too, if no one calls you into action, is it best to cultivate your love for the Trinity in your spare time through prayer, study, and spiritual reading, not demanding a mission but allowing yourself to overflow with love, that what follows may come more naturally. Thus does it say in the sacred song: “I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love till she please” (Canticle 8:4). He then commands them to go to the lost sheep of Israel, tending initially to the chosen people of God, that they may hear His words, which is fitting. One reason for this is that the little Apostles might have a training ground of sorts, first learning to love those that are like them before entering the great fray of the world, and so like little birds they stay in the nest before they are strong enough to fly to the four corners of the earth. So too is it the more common vocation to love those in close proximity rather than loving in the four corners: “Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee” (Exodus 20:12), for saints like Monica, the mother of St. Augustine, and Louis and Zelie Martin, the parents of St. Therese, focused their lives on the spiritual wellbeing of their children and have yielded heroic fruit in turn: “In this is my Father glorified; that you bring forth very much fruit, and become my disciples” (John 15:8). In sending His Apostles to those of Israel, He reached out to His people incessantly before spreading the message of love to the world, that He may not seem fickle and quick to abandon those who do not follow Him. No, the tremendous Lover of Mankind, “My delights were to be with the children of men” (Proverbs 8:31); “Behold the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them” (Apocalypse 21:3), spoke to His people through the Patriarchs, the Law, the Prophets, Himself, and His Apostles that no excuse may be given for disobeying the commandments of God: “Tribulation and anguish upon every soul of man that worketh evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Greek” (Romans 2:10), for He gives the grace necessary to find salvation, and it is the fault of the one that rejects, despite many promptings, both natural and supernatural law that they do not rise to true love: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and injustice of those men that detain the truth of God in injustice: because that which is known of God is manifest in them. For God hath manifested it to them” (Romans 1:18-19). Additionally, this sending of the Apostles to the people of Israel was so that these same people who had branded Jesus as a demoniac and drawn back from Him may not think that He hated them, thus He sends them His messengers that they might not be afraid: “He sent forth also a dove after him” (Genesis 8:8). To despise Jesus and sin even unto blasphemy does not repel His unfathomable love: “Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him” (Luke 12:10), and He will send messengers of love even to those who have done so that their hearts may be softened to Him. Jesus reaches out to the “lost sheep,” even to those whose tongues were those of vipers: “Ye brood of vipers, who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come?” (Matthew 3:7); “They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: the venom of asps is under their lips” (Psalm 139:4), showing He views all people as His sheep, no matter how maliciously they may revile Him, and all that is done outside of the love of God and neighbor is infirmity ranging from sickness to spiritual death: “All iniquity is sin. And there is a sin unto death” (1 John 5:17), which He longs to heal with His merciful love: “The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the dispersed of Israel. Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises” (Psalm 146:2-3). Those who sin gravely or believe falsely are just lost, confused, and hurting, Theophila: “And shall I not spare Ninive, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons that know not how to distinguish between their right hand and their left, and many beasts?” (Jonas 4:11). They have fallen off the path of love and writhe in the thorns of vice and error: “For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh. I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared in the groaning of my heart” (Psalm 37:8-9); “Behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down” (Proverbs 24:31), and need a gentle hand to help lift them out of the bramble patch: “He sent from on high, and took me: and received me out of many waters. He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me” (Psalm 17:17-18). The Apostles, then, are extensions of Jesus, taking His message and His miracles out, for while He could have done these things on His own, it is the love of a father that joins with his child happily in working together. Or, it can be as lovers that share their every experience, and where Jesus has lowered Himself to human experience: “[He] emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man” (Philippians 2:7), He calls His people to be extensions of Himself, members of His own body, sharing in His own work: “Now you are the body of Christ, and members of member” (1 Corinthians 12:27). This passage is particularly indicative of the Catholic priesthood, whose ordained ministers cure and revive souls rather than bodies, for by their administration of the sacraments, souls are given their full vitality, that all manner of infirmity may have grace and love administered, and what was dead, ailing, and feeble may become living and strong: “And he touched her hand, and the fever left her, and she arose and ministered to them” (Matthew 8:15). Now, Love is not a trader, but a giver, and for this reason He commands His Apostles to do all of this freely, that no one may feel they are being sold love: “If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing” (Canticle 8:7), but given from an abundance of love: “Thou openest thy hand, and fillest with blessing every living creature” (Psalm 144:16). They received love, grace, strength, gifts, everything from Jesus, and are in turn called to give these away, “For he that will save his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for my sake, shall find it” (Matthew 16:25). Just as Love Incarnate gave everything He is and has to His Apostles, and by extension you, “For all are yours; and you are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:23-24), so too were they called to freely give the gifts He has given for the sake of loving those who need to know His infinite love.