Marching Orders

The eleven disciples went to Galilee,                                                  
to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them.
When they all saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.
Then Jesus approached and said to them,
"All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.
And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age."

Silence prevailed in the camp but you could see that morning rituals were beginning. The guards stationed at the perimeters of the encampment could be seen by the naked eye. Smoke curled up near the cook tent as the cooks who had been the first to arise began to make the morning meal. The sun peaked over the horizon and the trumpeter who arose and got himself ready at the same time as the cooks did, raised his horn to his lips and blew Reville and the rest of the camp stirred to life.  The soldiers hurried through their morning ablutions and scurried to breakfast.  The mood in the chow tent was jovial and the usual jesters played the usual pranks on the usual victims to the amusement of all.  They ate quickly for they would soon be called to assembly.  The trumpeter now played "Boots and Saddles" and the soldiers ran to their position in the ranks.  The mood was still somewhat casual because the commander had not arrived yet.  Squad leaders took stock of their squads, making sure that they looked sharp and ready to march.  Company commanders inspected their companies so as to make sure that their company was the best looking on the field this morning.  Then the call went out, "Battalion, Attention.!"  With that, all casualness disappeared and the soldiers stood at attention, eyes to the front and weapons on their shoulders.  The commander came out of his tent and looked proudly at his army.  They looked sharp, their training had been hard but he saw to it that they were ready to fulfill their mission.  He summoned the company commanders to his side and he gave them the orders. The company commanders hurried back to their commands and gave the orders of the day to the squad leaders who informed each member of the squad.  The call went out and the army, in unison, began to move. 

Wow, that sounds like the beginning of an exciting story, doesn't it?  Well, it is an exciting story because in today's Gospel we have been given our marching orders.  We have been commissioned to conquer the world for Jesus.  If that sounds like a mission that is too grand, too hard for us to accomplish, well, get used to the idea, because it is what we are commanded to do.  We are to go out from our camp and march throughout the whole world and we are to be the bearers of the Good News of the Gospel.  It is not an easy mission and there will be casualties along the way.  Why some of the soldiers may turn tail and run!  But for the majority of us, like good soldiers, we will bring the fight to the enemy.  We will leave the message wherever we march to.  The message is one of such great power, that when they see how joyfully we are fulfilling our mission, the people in the lands we are conquering will join us too and soon there will be but a single army, a single Lord and Savior over all the world.  The fight will be long and at times brutal but the commander of our army has said that He would be with us even to the end of time!   

Please remember to pray for the poor souls in Purgatory this weekend.