He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick

 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty.  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.

- Luke 9:1-17

Yesterday, we read that when Jesus returned from the country of the Gadarenes across the Sea of Galilee,  the multitude welcomed Him, for they were all waiting for Him.  And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was a ruler of the synagogue.  And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to come to his house, for he had an only daughter about twelve years of age, and she was dying.  But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him.   Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians and could not be healed by any, came from behind and touched the border of His garment.  And immediately her flow of blood stopped.  And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"  When all denied it, Peter and those with him said, "Master, the multitudes throng and press You, and You say, 'Who touched Me?'"  But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me."  Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him, she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.  And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith has made you well.  Go in peace."  While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead.  Do not trouble the Teacher."  But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be afraid; only believe, and she will be made well."  When He came into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James, and John, and the father and mother of the girl.  Now all wept and mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but sleeping."  And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.  But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Little girl, arise."  Then her spirit returned, and she arose immediately.  And He commanded that she be given something to eat.  And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one what had happened.

Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.  He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  And He said to them, "Take nothing for the journey, neither staffs nor bag nor bread nor money; and do not have two tunics apiece.  Whatever house you enter, stay there, and from there depart.  And whoever will not receive you, when you go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet as a testimony against them."  So they departed and went through towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.  The disciples ("learners") become apostles, those sent out on a mission.  Jesus gives them power:  giving what is His to those who are His disciples, so that they in turn go out into the world to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.  What we note about this first mission is Jesus' careful instructions that emphasize humility.  They are not to be at all ostentatious, taking nothing with them but bare necessities of clothing.  Staying in the same house that welcomes them first means they will not "trade up" if offered better lodging.  And here is another side of that power:  when they leave a place that will not receive them, they are simply to shake the very dust from their feet as a testimony against them.  We note the importance of testimony.  The one judgment that counts is not worldly nor temporal.

Now Herod the tetrarch heard of all that was done by Him; and he was perplexed, because it was said by some that John had risen from the dead, and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the old prophets had risen again.  Herod said, "John I have beheaded, but who is this of whom I hear such things?"  So he sought to see Him.  Herod the tetrarch is Herod Antipas.  He is the one to whom Pilate will send Jesus during His trial (23:7).   He is the son of Herod the Great, who slew the innocents in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16).   For the beheading of St. John, see Mark 6:14-28.  What we notice here is something that will recur in the Gospels:  Herod's fascination with the holy power of both Christ and John the Baptist.

And the apostles, when they had returned, told Him all that they had done.  Then He took them and went aside privately into a deserted place belonging to the city called Bethsaida.  But when the multitudes knew it, they followed Him; and He received them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who had need of healing.  When the day began to wear away, the twelve came and said to Him, "Send the multitude away, that they may go into the surrounding towns and country, and lodge and get provisions; for we are in a deserted place here."  But He said to them, "You give them something to eat."  And they said, "We have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we go and buy food for all these people."  For there were about five thousand men.  Then He said to His disciples, "Make them sit down in groups of fifty.  And they did so, and made them all sit down.  Then He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, He blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the multitude.  So they all ate and were filled, and twelve baskets of the leftover fragments were taken up by them.  Here the feeding of the five thousand begins a recurring note in the Gospels, that Jesus and the disciples are meant to go into a deserted place, so that they may rest and discuss their first apostolic mission.  But the people come following Jesus.  He first does what He sent out the twelve to do:  He preaches the kingdom of God, and heals those who need healing.  We note the common themes of this story as it appears in the Gospels; Jesus instructs the disciples to give them something to eat.  When very little is found on hand, Jesus proceeds with that, blessing and giving the food to the disciples to distribute to the crowd.  The five thousand men is a common way of counting; there were more women and children in addition to the them.  It is a mirror to us of the Eucharist; symbolic in the fish and the loaves is the inexhaustible food of Christ, all the forms of God's grace and the depth of communion He will share with us. The twelve baskets of leftover fragments will be the inexhaustible bread taken up by the apostles for all the world, and those who will follow in the Church.

There is a kind of movement in today's reading, as it sweeps across the progress of Christ's ministry.  First the disciples are sent out:  twelve disciples symbolizing perhaps the people of God, the twelve tribes of Israel.  They go out on their first apostolic mission, calling out those who will come in faith -- preaching the kingdom of God and healing.  Those who respond to them are those who receive this word.  Their "people" are those who will first receive them.  This is a mission based on the connection of faith, of those "who have ears to hear," in the words of Isaiah so often quoted by Jesus.  Jesus is distributing His power to the apostles and through them to the world.  And the world does hear about Him, in the person of Herod the tetrarch, a man we could say is fascinated by the holy in perhaps a peculiarly childish way.  As king, what he might understand of such power is a kind of material phenomenon, something like a possession one might marvel at, although it's not completely clear what it is he seeks from both John the Baptist and then Jesus.  In him we could possibly say we see the world of material power separated from faith, and this world has taken notice now of Jesus.  Finally the disciples return, and what occurs afterward is a prefiguring of the Eucharist, the depth of participation in the Body of Christ, and that which will remain so long as the Church remains in the world and for all those to come.  It will spread to all the world, a movement that has not stopped but continues.  What we see in today's reading is the growth of this word of the Kingdom, as well as a deepening sense of what it is to be truly a part of that Kingdom and to share in His grace and blessings, a depth not reached until we know His sacrifice and understand the Eucharist in the ways He will teach.  We can reflect again on the parable of the Sower, which Christ has so recently given in the Gospel; the seeds are sown, the world is given what Christ brings in His mission.  But it is the growth, the struggle, the patience required, and the fruit of an eventual harvest He emphasizes.  We remain in the midst of that process of nurturing, growth, temptation, the essential need for care of the heart, and patience.  Let us be grateful for our part in all of it.