July 3rd 2022.  Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL   Luke 10:1-9

Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

 

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading . . .

 

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GOSPEL   Luke 10:1-9

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit. 
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the labourers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out labourers for his harvest. 
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. 
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way. 
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you. 
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the labourer deserves his payment. 
Do not move about from one house to another. 
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.'"

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

 

SUMMARY

The Gospel recounts how Jesus sent out the disciples in pairs on their mission. Our mission originates in Christ, not in ourselves! So much of what we do comes from our own ideas, projects and instincts. But only that which comes from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value! And our mission is not an individualistic one. We must work in communion with God and others. Autonomy is a form of self-deception. We need to be encouraged, helped and critiqued by others. The devil specializes in creating division between us and God and between us and others. When we are in communion with God and others we can strike at the origin of evil, which works only to divide. If our mission has its root in Christ, then all material and technical resources become secondary. There is no need for a bag or sandals, as the passage tells us. To be a good parent means simply to be a good parent. We are inclined to think that good parenting requires in the first place providing food, money and other resources. But what is really required in having our mission rooted in Christ. Everything else is secondary. And once we are rooted in Christ, then we will have peace, as the passage tells us. Jesus’ exhortation that we not “salute others along the way” is a reminder that our Christian vocation must be the central focus of our lives. How often we lose ourselves in secondary things and neglect the primary thing that God has placed in front of us! If I am called to marriage, then the good of my spouse must be my primary focus, instead of losing myself in secondary things.

 

1. Our mission originates in Christ, not in ourselves! So much of what we do comes from our own ideas, projects and instincts. But only that which comes from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value!

Sunday’s Gospel passage tells about the sending out of the disciples by Jesus. The mission is intrinsic to the life of every baptized person and this text is actually for all Christians. It is Jesus who designates the disciples and then sends them. Mission has its source in Christ, not in us. Much of what we do originates in our own projects or in our personal instincts. But only that which derives from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value. We should be very wary of doing things that do not issue from our relationship with Christ. It is important to ask ourselves the simple question: "Is what I am doing coming from God, or is it just coming from me?" A healthy doubt of this sort can trigger genuine growth. We slowly gain the capacity to distinguish, to develop an adult sense of awareness.

 

2. We must work in communion with God and others. Autonomy is a form of self-deception. We need to be encouraged, helped and critiqued by others. The devil specializes in creating division between us and God and between us and others. When we are in communion with God and others we can strike at the origin of evil, which works only to divide.

Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs. Christian life does not admit of individualism. We must go out at least in pairs and the main reason for this is communion. Working as part of a team means avoiding the self-deception of autonomy. It also permits us to be encouraged, helped, limited and critiqued by someone else. This working in communion gives the disciples power over unclean spirits. In fact, the Holy Spirit creates communion, while the devil (dia-ballo in Greek means "to go against") is the one who destroys it. Whoever is in communion has power over the one who seeks to destroy our relationship with God and with others. The mission of the Church, therefore, is a frontal attack on the origin of evil, which seeks to foment separation from God and a consequent separation from others.

 

3. If our mission has its root in Christ, then all material and technical resources become secondary. There is no need for a bag or sandals, as the passage tells us. To be a good parent means simply to be a good parent. We are inclined to think that good parenting requires in the first place providing food, money and other resources. But what is really required in having our mission rooted in Christ. Everything else is secondary.

If our Christian mission has an authentic root in Christ, then all material, technical and worldly resources become secondary. There is no need for a bag or sandals. This instruction might seem surprising! Often in pastoral projects, the first thing to think about is resources. This is a worldly mentality. To be a good father or a good mother, the essential thing is . . . to be a good father or a good mother! Money and resources are not the essential thing. Money ought to be used and procured according to love, while so many parents have fallen into the deception that once they have provided money, bread and good clothes, the rest matters little. In the same way, to exercise the priestly ministry well, one must simply be a good priest. The structures and techniques that complete good parenting or priestly ministry are consequences, not premises. Jesus still tells his friends to stay in the house that will welcome them without looking for anything else; this means avoiding transitory or fleeting relationships. Sometimes we jump from one relationship to another without ever really entering into authentic communication with people. In a word: the style of the Christian mission is simply love, which is born of God and lives in communion.

 

4. Jesus reminds us that our Christian vocation must be the central focus of our lives. How often we lose ourselves in secondary things and neglect the primary thing that God has placed in front of us!

One detail of the text is a little surprising. The missionary disciples are told not to salute anyone on the road. Why not? This is not an exhortation to refrain from being affable with others. Rather, it has to do with the focus one must have when doing the work of the Lord. Greetings in the Eastern culture tended to be very long and elaborate. Jesus is asking us here to be concentrated in what we do. When we seek to follow the will of God, it is important that we not become dispersed in other matters. This is a very important theme nowadays. We are a generation of multi-taskers, speaking to our children while we continue to work on the computer or send messages on social media.  The Lord asks us to resolutely fix our attention on our final goal. How many people lose their way, distracted by the same old things, accumulating a constellation of experiences, but end up building nothing with their lives. In life, it is essential that we follow the path that the Lord indicates for us. He who is called to matrimony must concentrate on what marriage requires, giving what is best to his spouse, not distracting himself with secondary things. How often we lose ourselves in the secondary things and neglect that which is primary, that which is at the heart of our own Christian calling.