14th Sunday of the Year, 3rd July 2022
Isaiah 66: 10 – 14; Galatians 6: 14 – 18; Luke 10: 1 – 12, 17 – 20
The Church, as explained by the Second Vatican Council, is by her very nature missionary, since according to the plan of the Father, she has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is the grace and vocation proper to the Church, her deepest identity. She exists in order to evangelise and never be closed in on herself. She is rooted in specific places in order to go beyond them. Her action, in adherence to Christ’s word and under the influence of His grace and His charity, is fully and currently present to all people and all peoples, to lead them to faith in Christ.
The Gospel of today tells us that Jesus summoned his seventy committed people and sent them two by two to communicate God’s love, to bind up wounds, and to be peacemakers in a troubled world. Jesus calls each to be ready for the mission, to leave behind the luggage, and set out with hearts fully attuned to his call. In today’s Gospel the reading tells us of the missionary journey of the disciples. The persons who had lived with Jesus and understood his mission and his work now go out to continue his mission. Luke tells us that Jesus appointed seventy disciples or seventy-two and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. Some think this has a symbolic reference to the seventy nations descended from Noah described in Genesis Chapter Ten. Most probably it reflects the time of Luke’s community and sets forth the outline form expected of a missionary. The disciples go in pairs and not as isolated individuals. The number two also adds to the witness value required in the testimony of two people. The disciples are called to demonstrate, in every aspect of their lives, the love they bring to the world. Jesus tells them that there is seriousness about seeking and spreading the message of peace. He tells them not to indulge in distractions but get on with their work. Jesus recommends His disciples as they go on their mission, not to weigh themselves down with all kinds of bags and baggage. Their security is not in material possessions, such as money, property, protection, and comfort. His advice is that the missionaries as they go proclaim peace and kingdom taking no walking staff, or a travelling bag or sandals, but trust fully in the divine providence. Their security comes from deep within, security that no-one or no circumstance can take away from them. The work of the disciples is not going to be easy as they will be required to enter very precarious situations with absolute minimum equipment. They will be like lambs being sent out to work among wolves. The urgency of the mission is captured by the mandate that they go in poverty and emptiness and not greet anyone on the way, something that would appear very strange in a culture dominated by gestures of hospitality.
The core of their message must be peace. It includes three things:
First, they have to establish a community, a community of love.
Second, they are called upon to heal those who are sick.
Thirdly, they are to announce that the kingdom of God is close at hand.
Their mission was to proclaim Jesus in their mission. The mission was dangerous and difficult, yet indeed challenging to the disciples. The seventy-two returned with joy and their hearts filled with thanksgiving, rejoicing and excited. They discovered they could do the same things that Jesus was doing. They could do the healing, drive away demons and even bring the dead to life. They were the extension of Jesus in every possible way. Their life was transformed with the mission given to them. They tell Jesus that even the demons submitted themselves to them in His Name. Jesus declares that the success of the disciples demonstrates that the kingdom of God is winning out over the power of Satan. Jesus tells them to inform people that the Kingdom is close at hand and immediate. There is a sense of urgency in the invitation to the kingdom. There is a single-hearted purpose in accepting this invite and hence he tells them that nothing should hinder them: no purse or haversacks or tunic or sandals or money purse. They are to be empty before God and seek him alone among the people.
One word that occurs and is repeated in all three readings today is “peace”. Peace is not merely the absence of war or maintaining a balance of power between adversaries. It is the tranquillity of order; it is the effect of justice and it is the effect of charity.
Isaiah, in the First Reading, speaks of God sending “flowing peace, like a river”.
Paul speaks of the peace and mercy that come to all who become that transformed person in Jesus Christ.
In the Gospel, Jesus sends his disciples as lambs in the midst of wolves and tells them to proclaim peace and to bring peace with them to every house they enter. This peace is not dependent on outside circumstances. It can exist even when we are surrounded by storms. It is the peace Jesus experienced on the cross in the midst of sufferings. Like those seventy-two persons we too are called to proclaim that the kingdom of God is at hand and this has to be proclaimed through our lives. It is still possible for us to do it even after two thousand years through our simple acts of caring and our personal ability. It is necessary for us to lend a listening ear to the sick and lonely, helpless and elderly and give them that consolation and healing. The call of Jesus continues to come to us even today in our world. We have to give them the peace of Jesus. The love of God must not make us forget his justice and his rigour. Let us always remember that the mercy of God cannot to be separated from his justice.
There was a tightrope walker, who was so good that he could walk between two twenty stories building on a tight rope with a balancing pole. Thousands of people would watch him perform his breath-taking feat. After this he would have his assistant sit on his shoulder and he would proceed to walk across the building. Everybody was amazed and gave him thunderous applause. He asked them whether they believed in him. The crowd said, “Yes, it was wonderful!” then he asked for a volunteer to sit on his shoulder.
With that the crowd became silent.
This story clearly illustrates the difference between belief and having faith.
Jesus built faith in people.