Today’s Gospel is a message of consolation. Matthew wants to say something about the difficulties of missionary life. He stresses the solidarity by which master and disciple are associated and connected in the experience of resistance to the Word of God. “Do not be afraid. You are more valuable the many sparrows.”

Mission, meaning to give witness to Christ, always encounters resistance, enmity, persecution, because mission always occurs in a world that tries to produce its own means of salvation, a world that is not humble enough to be given something, to be loved, to be redeemed. There is always this tension between the wisdom of the world and the wisdom of Christ.

If you take a look at the present world, you see that the world tries to produce its own means of salvation by making war (look at the situation in Syria and the Middle East), by producing more and more weapons of mass destruction, by producing an economic system that leaves a great part of the world in poverty and hunger.

Take a look at the Church. There is a lot of criticism, and discontent. People claim that there are not enough dialogues between the hierarchy and the faithful. There are always the same topics that lead to emotional discussions: celibacy of the priest, the role of women in the church, women priests, people leaving the church, the decline of church weddings and so on.

In this situation, today’s Gospel is proclaimed. A word of encouragement; “Do not be afraid.” You are valuable in the eyes of the Lord. The basic tension between the World and the Word of God will remain. It has led to the crucifixion and will continue to do so. But you are valuable in the eyes of God, so valuable that God Himself became Man, our brother.

Yes, there is an upheaval in the world, a revolution; in the political realm; in the world economy; in the social field. A restructuring of society takes place through the migration of millions of people. And all these changes lead to crisis situations. We don’t understand what’s going on. So we are afraid. Is it not naïve to try to give witness to God’s love in such a world?

Yet in spite of all that, it remains true that we are valuable in the eyes of God. He loves us so much that He sent His Son exactly into this world. God wanted to share our destiny, even our suffering and our death.

It remains true that even the fundamental law of life is Love, not egoism.
It remains true that even today there are thousands of families that strive every day to lead a Christian family life.
It remains true that even today people find the way into the Church. They get baptized.
It remains true that even today there are many young men and young women who choose religious life.
It remains true that even today many men and women do their utmost to make the world a better place.
Yes, the Church is alive! It remains true that the life in the Church is nourished by proclaiming the Word of God, and by sacraments, especially the celebration of the Eucharist.
It is here that Christ unites Himself with us in the most intimate way, because He loves us, and we are valuable in God’s eyes. This is the reason of our confidence. This is the reason for celebration with joy and gratitude.