Twentieth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2013

AUGUST 18^th 2013. TWENTIETH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: LUKE 12:49-53

From a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio.

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

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GOSPEL:                                     Luke 12:49-53

Jesus said to his disciples: 'I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already! There is a baptism I must still receive, and how great is my distress till it is over! '

Do you suppose that I am here to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on a household of five will be divided: three against two and two against three; the father divided against the son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD:   Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Kieran’s summary  . . . Sometimes people think that a state of peace is a sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit, a sign that they are following the will of God. But this is not always the case! If I am living in error then I have a tendecy to try to tranquilize my conscience and tell myself that everything is all right. A state of restlessness of heart is not necessarily a negative state. Often it is inspired by the Holy Spirit and impels us to sort out the errors of our ways. In this Gospel, Jesus tells us that he wants to bring a purifying fire to our lives! The fire is lit when he immerses himself in the darkness of the Cross and becomes the light of the world. In the light of this cataclysmic event, we are asked to wield Christ’s sword of division within our own lives. Christ is the parameter by which everything in our lives must be put to the test. His sword cuts away the ambiguities and errors in which we love to wallow. Once the sword of division is wielded in our lives, then we cease to be armchair Christians who are pleasant and inoffensive to everyone. Any radical choice we make will be met by a chorus of criticism from people who demand that we become more mediocre. The peace that Christ brings is not the comfortable peace that the world wishes to have. The Christian must constantly place herself in a state of confrontation with sin and darkness. Our daily lives must be a continual business of making small divisions between us and the ambiguities that dog our lives.

Jesus wants to bring fire to our lives! A fire that will purify us from the ambiguities that fill our existence.

What a courageous Gospel! What a disconcerting passage of Scripure! How important it is to welcome the radical sentiments expressed by Jesus and stand firmly beside him! The words expressed in this passage might seem paradoxical at first sight, but it is absolutely necessary that they be applied to our lives. Our lives are chaotic, full of lukewarmness, ambiguity and confusion. Often we don’t know what is right or wrong, what is good for us and what is damaging. Often we entrust ourselves to things that should never be allowed to touch our lives. At other times we let go of things that are right and good. We are desperately in need of a parameter by which things can be measured. And here comes the parameter! Jesus comes to bring fire on the earth. Fire transforms things. Often it is destructive. The Greek work for “purify” has the same root as “fire.”  Jesus wants this fire to be kindled within us and is in distress until it starts to blaze. He has an ardent desire to undergo a baptism of a certan sort (“baptize” means “to fully immerse” in Greek) and he is in a state of anguish until the process is completed. We know exactly what he is talking about. The fire that will be lit is the Cross that will become the light of the world. Jesus will be immersed in the darkness of the non-love and violence of this world. He will feel all the anguish of Gethsemene and will nevertheless shine. And all of this to release us from the ambiguity that we tend to wallow in.

Jesus brings a sword of division that will strike at the errors and ambiguities in our hearts

There is a terrible phrase in this Gospel, “I have not come to bring peace but division”. “Division” in the Greek is expressed by the word “sword”. Why does Our Lord want to bring division instead of peace? In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, “My peace I leave you, a peace that the world doesn’t give.” The peace that Christ brings is totally unlike the peace of the world. When we enter into a new way of life, this implies being separated from what went before. To begin truly living as children of God brings with it a certain tension and restlessness. Sometimes people are over-apt to generalise, stating that if one is in a state of peace then they are doing God’s will. But this doesn’t follow at all! The spiritual exercises of St Ignatius of Loyola emphasize that we have a tendency to try to tranquilize ourselves whenever we are in error. Restlessness and inquietude are precisely the works of the Holy Spirit in the heart of a person who is on the wrong path. Very often it is a feeling of dissatisfaction with oneself that leads people to Christ. How often we meet people who returned to the Church and the sacraments because of an unease they had with the way of life they were leading. Restlessness should not be automatically dismissed as being not of God. It is true that there are states of inner tension that are negative, unhappy and infertile. But there are also states of restlessness that are extremely beneficial, leading to transformations that are good and necessary. And Jesus tells us that he has come to bring us to just such a state of restlessness.

The sword that Jesus brings to our lives will cause us to take a path that is not followed by the multitude

Jesus says that the division that he brings will lead to divisions within our families. What is he referring to here? Historically, during the early centuries of persecution and martyrdom, it often happened that a person has to place himself in opposition to his family in order to accept Christianity. In our day we have returned to a situation where being a disciple of Jesus involves a break with society and the world. Abraham had to leave his father’s house and his homeland in order to follow the path that the Lord had planned for him. Many saints have also had to go against the wishes of their families. This is not to say that we inevitably have to get into conflict with our families in order to serve Christ. Very often what we do have to oppose is a carnality, a way of being human, that does not lead anywhere good. The division which Jesus brings into our lives is the refusal to follow in the way of the multitude. As the Lord says, the way of salvation is narrow, and the way that leads to perdition is wide and taken by many.

Following Jesus implies being in conflict with the world

If I am called to follow Christ, then this sets me against the tide, how can it be otherwise? If someone else has made something else the centre of their lives, something that is radically different to the way of Jesus, then it follows that I am not going to be in agreement with everything that this person says or does. A Christian will never be applauded by the whole world! We ought to be suspicious of any Christian who is praised by everyone. We can rightfully ask, “Is the division spoken of by Christ really present in the apostolate of that person?” It is not a question of wanting to be against other people. It is a question of identity! For example, we cannot be in agreement with people who are in favour of the devaluation of human life from the time it is in the womb of the mother. Very often, when we make a choice that is radical, even in a minimal way, then we are surrounded by people who criticize us and demand that we become more mediocre.

We need to intruduce a sword of division into our lives on a daily basis, a sword that cuts away the ambiguiites and errors, a sword that may not appeal to others around us, but that helps us to be faithful to our Christian identity.

We are asked to experience a division that has already been pre-announced in Luke’s Gospel. During the Presentation in the Temple, Jesus is described as a “sign of contradiction,” a sign that will lead to the fall and rise of many, and a sword will pierce even the soul of Mary. The original Greek for Sunday’s Gospel also speaks of division in terms of a sword. A sword that pierces the soul (as in the case of Mary) is the condition of someone who seeks the truth in their hearts. All of us need this restless sword because all of us have the tendency to muddle and confuse the truth within us. We pursue “nice” things that have nothing to do with the truth. We follow trends and currents that appeal to the senses but completely lack substance. We are more content to live with a bad conscience than with a bad social reputation. Jesus calls us to enter into the contradictions that are within ourselves, to confront those contradictions and not always be tolerant of them. Labour is required in order to give birth. The human being is a creature that is continuously reborn and who is constantly being liberated from his own carnality, from the agreements that he has made with this world. We should never feel a sense of loyalty to any commitment we have made to sin! If we have embarked on a sinful course of action, we should never feel that we have to continue until the act is done. The sooner we introduce the sword of division and refrain from sinning, the better. In the same way we are called to live an existence in which we are constantly making small divisions between us and evil, between us and the kingdom of darkness. We are asked not to be armchair Christians, who are pleasant and inoffensive to everyone, but unfaithful to their own identity.

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NINETEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME 2013

AUGUST 11^th 2013. NINETEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

GOSPEL: LUKE 12:32-48

From a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio.

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

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GOSPEL:                                     Luke 12:32-48

Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not be afraid any longer, little flock,
for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom. 
Sell your belongings and give alms. 
Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out,
an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can reach nor moth destroy. 
For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be.

“Gird your loins and light your lamps
and be like servants who await their master’s return from a wedding,
ready to open immediately when he comes and knocks. 
Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival. 
Amen, I say to you, he will gird himself, have them recline at table,

and proceed to wait on them. 
And should he come in the second or third watch

and find them prepared in this way,blessed are those servants. 
Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour
when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 
You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect,
the Son of Man will come.”

Then Peter said, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” 
And the Lord replied, “Who, then, is the faithful and prudent steward
whom the master will put in charge of his servants
to distribute the food allowance at the proper time? 
Blessed is that servant whom his master on arrival finds doing so. 
Truly, I say to you, the master will put the servant in charge of all his property. 
But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’
and begins to beat the menservants and the maidservants, to eat and drink and get drunk,
then that servant’s master will come on an unexpected day and at an unknown hour
and will punish the servant severely and assign him a place with the unfaithful. 
That servant who knew his master’s will but did not make preparations nor act in accord with his will shall be beaten severely; and the servant who was ignorant of his master’s will
but acted in a way deserving of a severe beating shall be beaten only lightly. 
Much will be required of the person entrusted with much,
and still more will be demanded of the person entrusted with more.”

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD:   Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Kieran’s summary  . . . Jesus asks us to be constantly ready to encounter him in the most startling ways and at the most unexpected times. How do we behave when life springs its surprises on us? Are we thrown into confusion? Or do we accept the tribulations of life with serenity? What is the secret of being ready for what life throws at us? Jesus gives us the answer at the very beginning of the reading! He says, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” Once we have founded our existence on the fact of being children of God, then we are placed in an ordered relationship with everything else in creation. Jesus speaks of the faithful and prudent servant who knows how to administer the goods that have been entrusted to him by the master. These two virtues have a definite order of priority. We must first of all be faithful to the Lord. We must found our existence on a relationship of intimacy with him. It is only then, once this relationship is in place, that we can have the prudence to administer the goods that the Lord entrusts to us. If we abandon ourselves to the Lord, then he abandons his goods into our hands to be distributed to others. Too often we take the opposite approach to the problems of life! We are confronted by a crisis and we try to do everything rational and prudent to resolve the problem. Later, when all else has failed, we beg the Lord for help! The correct approach is to live a life of daily attachment to the Lord, a life of complete abandonment to the will of God. When problems arise, entrust them to the Lord, and then tackle them with prudence, never losing trust in the providential care of God.

Like the Israelites on the night of the Passover, we must be ever ready to encounter the saving action of the Lord!

It is always better to read the longer version of the Gospel reading each Sunday. The more of God’s word we hear the better! The Gospel begins with Jesus’ exhortation to seek the purses that do not wear out, the treasure that is inexhaustible. We are asked to have the wisdom of the servant who knows how to wait for his master, who knows how to be ready for the moment of reckoning. When the master returns from the wedding, we are asked to be diligent servants who are ready to open the door for him. We are to have our loins girded and lamps lit. What do these peculiar instructions mean? They are the preparations one makes when one is ready to depart at any time of the day or night. This was exactly how the Israelites were asked to wait on the night of the Passover. Applied to our situation in the twenty-first century, it means that we must be ever-vigilant, with our eyes and ears open, hearts ready to meet the Lord! We must wait for him, ready to serve him, but when we get to know him we will discover that it is he who serves us!

One of the illusions of life is the tendency to think that there is some point of arrival in life, such as a particular position, a particular state of financial security, a particular social status. In reality, life has no point of arrival. We must be ever ready for the surprises of the Lord; ever ready for transformation and growth.

Sometimes we have the tendency to think that it is possible to reach a state of existence where everything is stable and secure. We look forward to the day of our marriage, not realizing the challenging journey that only begins on that day. We think that when we find that perfect job, or when the mortgage is finally paid, then everything will be relatively easy. One of the great illusions of our existence is the conviction that there is a point of arrival in life. Instead, life involves constant change and vigilance. But this should not be a motive for tension or disappointment. Rather, the very vitality of life consists in this fact. We must be ever-ready to change, grow and be transformed. Life is full of wonderful surprises, but we retain a nostalgia for stability, for maintaining the status quo. Life without variation resembles death. Death is the one place where there are no taxes to be paid, no noisy neighbours to disturb us, no bothersome phone calls to respond to. Our ideals in life are static and motionless, but the Lord calls us to constant evolution, to the continual discovery of what is real, to be ever ready to encounter the Lord. Jesus goes on, “Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared, for at an hour you do not expect, the Son of Man will come.” How do we react when we are surprised by something unexpected? Sometimes, when life springs its surprises on us, we are thrown into utter confusion. If we were truly prepared for our encounter with the master, then we would not be so badly thrown by the events of life.

We are all asked to be faithful and prudent. First of all we must be faithful to the Lord, then we must be prudent with the goods that the Lord entrusts to us. Because I have abandoned myself into his hands, then he abandons his riches into my hands to be administered to others.

Peter then asks, “Lord, is this parable meant for us or for everyone?” This question prompts Jesus to focus on the servant who is entrusted with particular authority in the household. Priests and bishops certainly have positions of authority in the church, but all of us have authority over others to some degree. All of us are asked to to minister to others. Jesus speaks of the faithful and prudent servant who is placed in charge of the property. “Fidelity” applies to the relationship of the servant with his master, whilst “prudence” applies to the relationship of the servant with the other servants to whom he has the task of distributing the food. Prudence is a virtue that must be possessed by every father of a family, and by anyone who has the task of administering the goods of this world. It is vital to note that prudence is a virtue exercised by someone who has something already entrusted to him. The relationship of fidelity must come first; then comes the requirement to be prudent. When I have a relationship of fidelity with the Lord, then I abandon myself to him, and he entrusts his goods to me to be distributed among others. Because I have abandoned myself into his hands, then he abandons his riches into my hands. Often, when we are presented with a problem, we struggle to understand and solve the problem on our own initiative, and it is only later, when we have worked out a solution, that we entrust the full resolution of the problem to the Lord. Instead we should first have a relationship with God, first have intimacy with God, and then seek to discern a solution to the problem. The other approach to the problem is the “accident and emergency” approach. But if we put attachment to God before prudence, then how differently would the resolution unfold!

If we root our existence on the fact of being children of God, then we can never be confounded by the surprises of life. But if we have not made space for God in our lives, then that space will be filled by other things that seek to compensate for the absence of the Lord

This entire text begins with the words of Jesus, “Do not be afraid any longer, little flock, for your Father is pleased to give you the kingdom.” If we truly were in possession of the Kingdom, then all of these other problems raised by the text would not emerge. Why are we such terrible parents, such terrible priests, such terrible friends and such terrible workers? Because we do not possess the Kingdom of Christ and this leads us to be overly attached to material things, causing us to become anxious and disordered. When we found our existence primarily on the fact of being children of God, primarily on the fact of being the little flock that is tenderly cared for by him, then we have the serenity of someone who has already passed the most fundamental examination of his life! My identity has come from God and I know exactly what I must do in any given situation, no matter how unexpected or terrible it might be. Prudence becomes a natural process. Very often the disorder in our lives derives from the fact that the truth of our identity has been obscured. We then become overly attached to material things, our profession in life, our social status. We begin to think that prayer is something that can be put off to another time. In the parable, the servant who loses sight of his relationship with his master begins to eat and get drunk. In the same way, if we do not found our existence and our very being on God, then we seek meaning and compensation elsewhere. A vaccuum cannot exist in the spiritual life. If I have not made a place for God in my life, then I will seek an alternative elsewhere to fill that void within me.

All of us are called to great responsibility, to administer to others in the name of the Lord. This responsibility must spring from my relationship with God. If the relationship with God is missing then my administraton of the goods of the Lord will be reduced to bureaucracy, deception and bad government.

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AUGUST 4^th 2013. EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY OF TIME

GOSPEL: LUKE 12:13-21

From a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio.

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel.

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GOSPEL:                                     Luke 12:13-21

A man in the crowd said to him, 'Master, tell my brother to give me a share of our inheritance'. 'My friend,' he replied, 'who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?' Then he said to them, 'Watch, and be on your guard against avarice of any kind, for a man's life is not made secure by what he owns, even when he has more than he needs'.

Then he told them a parable: 'There was once a rich man who, having had a good harvest from his land, thought to himself, "What am I to do? I have not enough room to store my crops." Then he said, "This is what I will do: I will pull down my barns and build bigger ones, and store all my grain and my goods in them, and I will say to my soul: My soul, you have plenty of good things laid by for many years to come; take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time". But God said to him, "Fool! This very night the demand will be made for your soul; and this hoard of yours, whose will it be then?". So it is when a man stores up treasure for himself in place of making himself rich in the sight of God.'

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD:   Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Kieran’s summary  . . . In the Gospel, Jesus refuses to arbitrate in a dispute between two brothers over an inheritance. Why is he so unwilling to resolve this case of family discord? Because this is not the kind of wealth that Jesus is interested in! He goes on to tell us a parable in which a rich man rejoices over his abundant harvest, but then dies that very night. The rich man based the meaning of his life on the worldly things that he possessed.  His plans for the future revolved entirely around his material wealth. Is that how it is for you and me? Is the course of my life determined by my salary, my expenses, my possessions? Jesus’ parable challenges us to ground our lives on things that cannot be seen or possessed. And we can do this better when we learn to realize that every day is our last. This day can never be lived again. The relationships, situations and events that confront me in this moment will never present themselves to me again. I must learn to ask myself continually, “Where does my true life reside? What are the foundations of my life? What am I looking for in life? Am I searching for that which brings me profit? Or am I living for the things that remain when all material profit fades away?” The good news is that each one of us can extract ourselves right now from the cycle of basing our lives on worthless, material goods. We can simply change our perspective and learn to evaluate the worth of our lives from the point of view of Jesus, the judge and arbitrator of the only wealth of an authentic kind.

The man who asks Jesus to admonish his brother is overly fixated with the goods of this world

A man says to Jesus, “Tell my brother to give me a share of the inheritance.” We don’t know if the brother has stolen an inheritance that did not properly belong to him, or if he has simply refused to share the legacy that he has received. Jesus replies, “Who appointed me your judge, or the arbitrator of your claims?” By responding in this fashion, Jesus appears to be disinterested in issues of this kind, but then he goes on to say something of the greatest relevance. The fact remains that God very much is the one that judges the affairs of human beings and distributes goods among people, but the justice that God is interested in is not of the sort that this brother is fixated with. Any situation can be interpreted from various perspectives. We can consider the case from the point of view of the generosity that should prevail between brothers. This seems a legitimate point of view and a reasonable request to make of Jesus. But the problem with this request is that it absolutizes the goods of this world. According to this worldly perspective, the goods of this world are all that we possess and have an overriding value in themselves. And that is why Jesus’ reply is not diffident but highly pertinent. Jesus is not arbitrator and judge of matters such as these, but of matters that are much deeper and have a far greater import. This Gospel, in fact, speaks of riches that completely transcend the kind of wealth that the man is preoccupied with.

Jesus’ parable warns against basing our lives on the worldly goods that we possess

Jesus recounts the parable of the rich man who has a very successful harvest. On the basis of this rich harvest, the wealthy man goes on to plan the rest of his life. The riches he has accumulated will allow him to take it easy and enjoy life. Is it rare that people plan their lives on the basis of the riches that they have accumulated? No! Very often our lives revolve around the worldly goods that we possess. And Jesus’ parable is designed to show that this is completely mistaken. Worldly goods have their place. It is possible to show great love by means of the way that we distribute the worldly goods that we possess. But if we locate the meaning of our lives in the goods that we possess then we are in trouble, because all of these goods will one day be lost. The rich man who has an abundance of wealth has no response when he is asked to give an account of his life. He has nothing to offer because the “life” that he has is based on something that is transitory and false. It is a life that lacks greatness; a life that is unable to probe the wall of death; a life that has nothing to say when the final moment of its material existence arrives.

We must become rich in the eyes of God, basing our lives on things that cannot be seen or possessed

This text challenges us to become rich in the eyes of God; to accumulate treasures that are rich in themselves. We are called to be much more than what we can see and much more than what we possess. In every relationship, in every event, in every moment of our lives, there is something invisible that transcends what can be seen. Our lives are very empty if we live them only from the perspective of what we can perceive and possess. This parable asks us to reflect radically on our existence, asking ourselves, “Where does my life reside? What are the foundations that my life is supported on? What do I seek from life?” We cannot demand life from things that are more insignificant than we are! We cannot obtain life from things that are possessed temporarily! This is not to say that the management of our earthly goods has no importance. Love for the poor and the needy must be an essential part of our lives. But the people that have a genuine love for the poor are the very ones who are not obsessed with the accumulation of personal wealth!

Instead of grounding our lives on economic issues, we must ground our lives on that which remains when economic things fade away

At this point of human history, excessive emphasis is being placed on economic issues. And a disproportionate focus on economic issues leads to the poor and needy being forgotten. This fixation with the health of the economy leads us to become more and more anguished with regard to a “lifestyle” and a “standard of living” that we will nevertheless lose one day. We can be sure of one thing: the financial investments we make will all fail to make a profit; the worldy enterprises that we devote our lives to are guaranteed to fail. This Gospel challenges us to focus on that alone which remains. And what a wonderful opportunity to ask ourselves: “If today the Lord asks me for my life, what do I have to offer him? What would remain of my existence if my physical life were to come to an end at this moment?” The good news is that it is possible to extract oneself from this way of life, right now, without dying, by radically changing our perspective, just as Jesus fields the question asked from a worldly perspective and gives a reply that is from a higher perspective altogether. We simply need to begin living our lives from the point of view of their ultimate finality, from the point of view of the things that remain when these worldly goods have disappeared. For example, if today is to be the last day that I will meet my friends and acquaintances, then will I be as cantankerous with them as I usually am? How would I treat my family members if I knew that this was to be the last day of my earthly life?

Today is my last day. This is my last moment. Am I living this moment from the point of view of its eternal relevance? Or am I living this moment from the point of view of the way that it profits me now?

We need to discover the truth that every day is actually my last. It is my last day of this sort and that is a fact that we should reflect on. Each day is unique and irrepeatable. We must learn to live every moment with the lightness of heart of the one who realizes that he is not judged by this world, but that he has a single judge, a single arbitrator who alone will evaluate the worth of our lives, and the rightness of our relationship with our brothers and sisters. From this point of view, our lives become much more profound and significant. And the worthless things that preoccupy us so much are exposed as being silly and irrelevant. Where does the meaning of my life reside? How much life is there in me? Every situation that confronts us is an opportunity for us to make the distinction between that which has authentic life and that which does not. I must ask myself a thousand times if I am living this day as if it were my last.

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JULY 28th 2013. SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY OF TIME

GOSPEL: LUKE 11:1-13

From a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio.

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Don Fabio’s homily follows the Gospel. 

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GOSPEL:                                     Luke 11:1-13

Once Jesus was in a certain place praying, and when he had finished one of his disciples said, 'Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples'. He said to them, 'Say this when you pray:

"Father, may your name be held holy, 

your kingdom come; 

give us each day our daily bread, 

and forgive us our sins, 

for we ourselves forgive each one who is in debt to us. 

And do not put us to the test."'

He also said to them, 'Suppose one of you has a friend and goes to him in the middle of the night to say, "My friend, lend me three loaves, because a friend of mine on his travels has just arrived at my house and I have nothing to offer him"; and the man answers from inside the house, "Do not bother me. The door is bolted now, and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up to give it you". I tell you, if the man does not get up and give it him for friendship's sake, persistence will be enough to make him get up and give his friend all he wants.

'So I say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. What father among you would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake instead of a fish? Or hand him a scorpion if he asked for an egg? If you then, who are evil, know how to give your children what is good, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!'

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD:  Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

Kieran’s summary  . . . Luke’s account of the Our Father focuses on the theme of asking for bread. We must ask only for the bread we need today. God wants us to present ourselves before him in a childlike way every day, looking to him for our daily sustenance, not seeking to store up things that would allow us to survive autonomously without him. Jesus then tells a parable about a man who asks for bread on behalf of his friend. This is a role that all of us must assume in life! How many people we meet are starving interiorly! They need the bread of life from Jesus but they do not know what they need, nor who to ask. We must knock insistently on the door of Jesus so that these people we encounter will be fed with real food by Jesus. The world feeds scorpions and serpents, the symbols of evil in the Bible. Only our heavenly Father gives the food that nurtures life. We must continually ask on behalf of others for this food. Finally, Don Fabio emphasizes the plural nature of the Our Father. All of the petitions are in the plural. We do not approach God in an individual, egoistic way, but as a community and through his Son. To the extent that the Our Father is prayed only for my daily needs, then it is a sterile prayer. To the extent that it fails to ask for bread for others then it is an empty exercise. 

Luke’s account focuses on the theme of daily bread

This Sunday the Church proclaims the version of the Our Father as found in the Gospel of Luke. Luke’s version is simpler and more stark than the version found in Matthew’s Gospel, but the sense of the prayer is absolutely the same. It is not the exact wording that counts, but the spirit of the prayer. Jesus is telling us to pray in this manner, not to use a fixed formula like “abracadabra” or “open sesame”. All of us when we pray are prone to moments of distraction when the words we say are little more than babble. It is not the words that count, ultimately, but what our hearts are expressing when we pray.

The passage in which Luke gives his version of the Our Father focuses on the theme of our daily bread. Jesus tells the story of someone who manages to obtain bread for a friend by the insistence of his pleas. Then Jesus goes on to speak further on the theme of food, comparing the good food provided by a loving father with another type of food that no father would offer his children. There are many other aspects to this passage, but we will focus on the theme of bread.

We should only ask for what we need today, not what we need for all days. The Lord wants us to enter into a continual daily relationship where we look to him as a Father

“Give us this day our daily bread”. We should ask only for the bread that we need on this particular day, not the bread that we need for all days to come. When the people of Israel were being formed into the people of God during their time in the desert, they were fed manna from heaven on a daily basis. Manna was bread for this day only, and it was a waste of time trying to store it because it quickly went mouldy. It is essential in the Christian life to distinguish those things that are not to be done once only. We must learn to have a daily relationship with God. God rejoices in being our father, in satisying us on a continual basis. He longs for us to present ourselves before him every day, ready to receive the good things that only he can give.

We must continually ask Jesus to give the bread of life to the people we encounter who are in need. Often these people are not in a position themselves to ask Jesus for life. They do not know what they need or where to turn. We must ask for them.

Then the text goes on to speak of the man who pleas for bread for a friend who has arrived unexpectedly after a long journey. The notion of friendship is very important in the parable. The man pleas for bread from a friend on behalf of another friend. The second man does not respond immediately in friendship, but then he relents. What is the significance of this story? It often happens that we encounter others who have arrived at a certain point in their journey and their interior person is starving to death. People come to us many times and they need that special word of life that I cannot give. I must knock at the door of my friend Jesus, and I must knock with insistence. The person that I am interceding for has need of my mediation. For whatever reason they are not in a position themselves to knock at the door of Jesus and enter his house. Jesus has the bread of life. I must ask Jesus to give it to me for that person who is before me and who is in need. We must take on this role of knocking continually on the door of Jesus, pleading on behalf of our friends who are in need. I do not have a decent bread to give to my friends. I must ask Jesus for the food that is better.

The Our Father is a sterile prayer if prayed in an egocentric way. It must be prayed in the plural.

The Our Father is not to be prayed for egoistic purposes! We must pray it so that others too will obtain their daily bread! We must ask on behalf of others for that which is not a scorpion nor a serpent but real food. How often people come to us who have lived up to now on a diet of scorpions and serpents! The scorpion and the serpent are symbols of evil. Scripture tells us that the disciples of Jesus trample scorpions and serpents underfoot. The egg, instead, is a symbol of life, and the fish is a symbol of the Risen Jesus. One of the salient features of the Our Father is that it speaks always in the plural. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, as we forgive others. Do not abandon us to evil. We encounter the Father as a community not as an individual. Only Jesus has a unique relationship with the Father. My relationship with God is through him and with others. The feast we enjoy with the Lord is either open to everyone or it is not authentic at all. The Our Father, in fact, is a sterile prayer if it is not prayed in a way that battles against our tendency to relate to God in an egocentric way. If we pray the Our Father in such a way that we fail to ask for bread for others then we are wasting our time. How many people pray and pray and pray, but the prayer is being consumed by their own egos! Even the things that are holy can become the food of our own vanity. It is critical that we pray as “We” and that we ask for bread for our friends. It is essential that we knock with insistence on the door of the Heavenly Father, so that he will open the door and give us this bread for ourselves and others.

Sixteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2013

JULY 21st 2013. SIXTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio
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Don Fabio's homily follows the Gospel.
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GOSPEL:                                     Luke 10: 38-42

Jesus came to a village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. She had a sister called Mary, who sat down at the Lord's feet and listened to him speaking. Now Martha who was distracted with all the serving said, 'Lord, do you not care that my sister is leaving me to do the serving all by myself? Please tell her to help me.' But the Lord answered: 'Martha, Martha,' he said 'you worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one. It is Mary who has chosen the better part; it is not to be taken from her.'

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Kieran's summary . . . This Gospel presents us with two radically different ways of living out our Christian vocation. One is the right way, and the other is a way that appears right but is far from it. Mary places herself at the feet of Jesus and listens to him. This is the perfect attitude of a disciple. It is not what we can do for Christ but what he can do for us that matters. Once we have listened to him and received his love, then we are in a position for fruitful activity and our Christian mission. Martha, by contrast, engages in a flurry of activity without ever trying to discern what it is that Jesus wants to accomplish in her. This frenzy of activity is too often the way of many Christians who talk a lot about God but rarely talk to God. How many Christians consume themselves in commendable projects but fail to devote themselves to the task that Jesus wants them to devote themselves to, such as their children, their spouses or their parishes! This is the classic strategy of the tempter: not to make us opt for evil, but to distract us from the good that had been entrusted to us with other good projects that are not ours to do at all. Mary chooses the better part, which is to put her relationship with Jesus first. The good activity that will flow from this relationship will be a thousand times more fruitful than the good things we try to accomplish on our own without placing ourselves first at the Lord's feet. 

Sometimes it is the doing of good things that prevents us from doing the greater good.

This Gospel passage presents us with the problem of the anxieties and preoccupations that oppress us on a daily basis. What is the root cause of the fact that we allow these things to weigh on our souls? In the passage, Martha is like Atlas who has taken the weight of the world on his shoulders. She has become completely distracted with the business of welcoming Jesus. What is it that is causing anxiety in the heart of Martha? It is interesting to note that it is not something evil in itself. Sometimes we think the world can be divided into good and evil, and if someone is doing something that is not evil then (we mistakenly think) it should not create an obstacle to his relationship with Jesus. Martha is doing something that seems highly commendable. She is engaging in acts of service for Jesus. But very often it is acts such as these, that seems highly commendable in themselves, that cut us off from the greater good. Jesus says, "Martha, you worry about many things, but few are needed, indeed only one". It is not possible to do everything that we might want to do. It is not possible to be in more than one place at the same time.  There are many good things that we can do, but only a single present moment in which to do them. And usually there is only one single thing that I as an individual am called to do in that moment. When we embrace a vocation, it is not simply because that vocation involves doing a particular thing that is good. There are many goods that can be done and many vocations that can be followed. The reason that I pursue my vocation is because it is mine. It is the road that I have been called to follow.

We have been entrusted with a mission to realize a particular good. The strategy of temptation is often to distract us from that good with the frenzied attempt to achieve other goods.

Martha is someone who has been overtaken by the demands of the present moment and has lost sight of her priorities. She has allowed the immediate demands of the situation to have a greater urgency than the things that have been entrusted to her as a person. Her priority should be to try to discern her own unique role among things, instead of allowing anxious events to dictate that role to her. The fundamental strategy of temptation is to take the human being away from what is good, and that is not such a difficult thing to achieve. It is sufficient to distract the person with another good. When a person is doing something constructive, that does no harm to anyone, then he tends to think that he has resolved the problem of the meaning of his existence. All of us fall into this trap regularly. But just because we are doing something that is not bad does not mean that we are doing what is truly ours to do! As Jesus says in the Gospel, "Only one thing is needed".

Mary sits at Jesus feet and listens. This is the classic position of the disciple. Martha takes up another position with respect to Jesus, and it is not the position of discipleship.

The text does not go into details, but Martha is probably doing various acts of service for Jesus. Mary, instead, places herself at the feet of Jesus and listens. This is the classic position of the disciple. Martha takes another stance towards Jesus which, whilst not being wrong in itself, is nevertheless not the correct attitude of the disciple. This scenario allows us to elucidate a principle that is extremely important. When Jesus is around, we must not be preoccupied with what we can do for Jesus, but with what he can do for us! Activity and mission come later. First of all we must place ourselves at the source and fountain of activity and mission. Between Jesus and me there is a relationship of master and disciple, of Lord and the devoted subject who belongs to him. He is my Lord and there can be no other relationship between us. Anything that I do for him must derive from this relationship. 

Our lives are often in disarray because we prioritize the wrong goods. Often we consume ourselves with commendable projects whilst neglecting our spouses, our children, our flock!

Very often our lives are in disarray because we place ourselves in the wrong position with respect to life. We assume roles and activities that are not ours. In general, the people on this earth who are in the places that they ought to be and are doing the things that they ought to be doing are relatively few. These are the people who have chosen the better part, the part that will never be taken from them. Most of us take a thousand parts that are not the part of the disciple and that will be stripped away from us in a thousand ways. The battle that confronts us every day is the challenge to remain steadfastly in our places. When we stay in our proper place we are accompanied by grace. When we start to go our own way then we are on our own; we are doing that which has no permanent value and which will be taken away from us. And this is true even for those in church ministry. Lots of people want to do various good projects, but it is not the good that has been entrusted to them. How many men and women are engrossed in commendable projects but fail to look after their own children adequately! Our priority is to learn to live in our own shoes, be ourselves in the presence of God, and appropriate the part that is ours alone.

Acts that spring from authentic discipleship are of a different sort than acts undertaken on our own initiative

This text is a wonderful key to open the secret of how we ought to live our mission. We have a duty to nurture our interior spiritual lives. How many people are unable to rest without doing or worrying about a million different things! This summer presents us with a perfect opportunity for placing ourselves in silence at the feet of Jesus. Too many people are overly active and pray hardly at all. Too many people have a multitude of contacts but virtually no contact with the Lord. Many people talk a lot about God but fail to take the time to talk to God. There is a sacred uselessness about Mary, a holy inactivity that will become the fountain of authentic action springing from the fact of being loved by Jesus. Many acts of service fail to spring from love, fail to spring from having sat in front of Jesus. Acts that arise from this relationship with Jesus are of a different sort altogether. They are solid, based on a genuine foundation, and are directed towards a sure end. The Lord gives us a stark warning in the words that he addresses to Martha. 'You worry and fret about so many things, and yet few are needed, indeed only one." It is vital that we extract ourselves from the many good things that weigh on our souls and choose instead the better part, the single thing that is essential for our salvation: placing ourselves as disciples at the feet of Jesus.

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Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time 2013

JULY 14TH 2013. FIFTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 10:25-37

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

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Don Fabio's homily follows the Gospel.

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GOSPEL:                                Luke 10: 25-37

There was a lawyer who, to disconcert Jesus, stood up and said to him, 'Master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? What do you read there?' He replied, 'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbour as yourself'. 'You have answered right,' said Jesus 'do this and life is yours.'

But the man was anxious to justify himself and said to Jesus, 'And who is my neighbour?' Jesus replied, 'A man was once on his way down from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell into the hands of brigands; they took all he had, beat him and then made off, leaving him half dead. Now a priest happened to be travelling down the same road, but when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite who came to the place saw him, and passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan traveller who came upon him was moved with compassion when he saw him. He went up and bandaged his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them. He then lifted him on to his own mount, carried him to the inn and looked after him. Next day, he took out two denarii and handed them to the innkeeper. "Look after him," he said "and on my way back I will make good any extra expense you have." Which of these three, do you think, proved himself a neighbour to the man who fell into the brigands` hands?' 'The one who took pity on him' he replied. Jesus said to him, 'Go, and do the same yourself'.

THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: PRAISE TO YOU LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Kieran's summary . . . We sometimes read this parable as if the intention were merely to highlight the meanness and selfishness of the priest and the Levite. But the intention of the parable is more profound. Jesus directs the story at a doctor of the Law, someone who would have appreciated perfectly that the Law had placed an absolute prohibition on priests (and Levites) from approaching a man who was already half-dead. The Samaritan is someone whose action towards others is not constrained by rules and preconceptions. Often we abide by a worldview or a philosophy that effectively prevents us from following Jesus. Our habitual actions and mental schemes can prevent us from loving others in a genuine way. The parable should prompt us to examine the barriers we erect around ourselves that stop us from following the way of the Lord. The stricken man was "untouchable" for the priest and the Levite. What is "untouchable" for me? The Samaritan used his oil, wine and money to help the man. In the same way, the Lord is calling all of us to reevaluate how we use our worldly goods. Like the Samaritan we must go beyond the Law; we must go beyond what we usually consider to be the purpose of our worldly possessions. We must consume what we have in the service of others.

This parable is not so much interested in revealing who my neighbour is as it is in showing what it is to BE a good neighbour.

Jesus gives a clear reply to the doctor of the law who asks what he needs to do to inherit eternal life. One must simply love God and neighbour. The doctor, however, wants to complicate matters. He seeks a way of avoiding the crystal clear obligations that have been placed before him.  So he asks, "Who is my neighbour?" Jesus replies by telling the parable of the Good Samaritan. The real problem, however, is not trying to understood who our neighbour is. The real problem confronting the doctor of the law is that he has not made a serious effort to follow the will of God. The parable of the Good Samaritan is not so much directed to revealing who my neighbour is as it is a parable designed to show that it is following the will of God that matters.

The priest and Levite represent the way that we "love" our neighbour when we remain within our preconceived schemes and habitual way of doing things.

It is important that we not read the parable in over simplistic or sentimental terms. A man is robbed and beaten up on the road to Jericho. As he lies half-dead on the side of the road, a priest passes him by without stopping to help. A Levite does the same thing. This prompts us to ask why they refused to come to the man's aid. We are inclined to react by saying, "How mean and selfish they were!" But a more mature reading of the parable takes into account the cultural context in which the story is set. Priests and Levites were absolutely forbidden by the Law to touch the dead. Death was considered incompatible with God. When Ezekiel wished to emphasize the shocking way in which the temple had been profaned, he merely had to say that he saw corpses in  the sanctuary. The Books of Exodus and Leviticus state that whoever is of God must have nothing to do with death. Sin led to death, so death was an expression of our distance from God. The priest represented the reconciliation of God and man and had the duty of offering sacrifices. The Levite's job was to serve the priest. The Law therefore was very clear in prohibiting the priest and Levite from approaching a man that appeared to be dead or dying. It is too simplistic to read this parable and dismiss them as being "mean" or "selfish". They were firmly bound by their obligations to the Law.  The Law can do nothing other that state what is the case. It can say "What you did is wrong", but it cannot bring about salvation in itself. Remember, Jesus is telling this story to a doctor of the Law. This doctor would have been well aware of what the Law stipulated, but Jesus is telling him that he must go beyond the Law if he wishes to be saved.

In order to love we must go beyond our preconceptions, our comfort zone, our fear of the "untouchable"

The Samaritan is then introduced into the story. The Samaritans, for the Jews, were heretics. They were those who had distorted the Law. We are told that this Samaritan was a "traveller". He is someone who is on a journey and has a definite destination. The Samaritan sees the stricken man and is filled with compassion. He approaches him and pours oil and wine on his wounds. These elements are highly significant. Oil is the symbol of blessing and consecration in the Old Testament. Wine is at the centre of the Paschal liturgy. These holy things should not be placed in contact with death, according to the attitude of the Law, but here they are applied to the wounds of a half-dead man. And this is the point. The Samaritan goes beyond the stipulations of the Law. It is not possible to love within the parameters of the Law. It is not possible to care for humanity within the parameters of the Law. It is Jesus, ultimately who is the true Good Samaritan. He is the one who thinks differently and defies all expectations placed on him from the perspective of the Law. The Samaritan uses the things that he possesses, oil, wine and money, to bring about good, to effect salvation. This is what Jesus wishes to teach us with this parable: that we must go beyond the Law, that we must shatter our customary worldview, that we must give of ourselves in order to love. Is it ever possible to love truly without going beyond our own comfort zones? Is it ever possible to do an act of genuine compassion without infringing on something that we once considered to be untouchable?

My preconceived ideas and rules of behaviour prevent me from following Jesus, they prevent me from following the way of love.

This is not to say that rules are of no use; it is simply to recognize that there is a rule that transcends all other rules: the rule of compassion. This rule, in fact, gives senses to all other rules. The fulfilment of the Law, after all, is love. In order to love another person, we cannot be bound by taboos, by schemes, by stipulations. Very often the rules that I subscribe to prevent me from loving; they prevent me from following the Lord Jesus. Very often the rules that I follow in order to give myself a sense of self-security become prison walls that prevent me from being able to love.

The parable reveals that our worldly goods are destined to be used in acts of love.

This Gospel encourages us to enter into the very logic of salvation. The Samaritan discovers why he has oil in his possession: to give relief to the stricken. He discovers why he has wine: not to drink but to disinfect the wounds of the afflicted. Why do I have worldly goods? Why do I have money? In order to love. This is the surprise of this parable. It challenges us to go beyond our preconceptions. I believed that my worldly goods were destined for another purpose, but now I know what the Lord intends me to do with them! Let us be transported by this Samaritan to a new way of thinking about things; to a new way of using the things that we possess. The Samaritan shows us that the things we believe we knew must in reality be learned from scratch.

Fourteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

July 7th 2013. Gospel: Luke 10:1-12; 17-20

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

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Don Fabio's homily is not available yet for translation. What follows (after the Gospel) is a homily he gave a couple of years ago on the same theme.

GOSPEL:                                Luke 10:1-12. 17-20 

The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, 'The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road. Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, "Peace to this house!" And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, "The kingdom of God is very near to you". But whenever you enter a town and they do not make you welcome, go out into its streets and say, . "We wipe off the very dust of your town that clings to our feet, and leave it with you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God is very near." I tell you, on that day it will not go as hard with Sodom as with that town.

The seventy-two came back rejoicing. 'Lord,' they said 'even the devils submit to us when we use your name.' He said to them, 'I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.'

THIS IS THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.

SUMMARY OF THE HOMILY

This Gospel contains a manifesto for Christian missionary activity. By virtue of our baptism we have all been given a particular mission by Christ, and this mission includes every word that we say and every action that we undertake. Before embarking on any course of action, we must ask if it derives from my relationship with Christ, or if it comes solely from me. The Gospel contains detailed instructions on how we are to carry out our mission:

1. Our actions must be grounded in Christ; 

2. They must be carried out in communion with the Church;

3. They give us power over the one who seeks to destroy communion and tries to sow divisions/compromises/ambiguities within each of us;

4 To be missionaries we must simply be missionaries - no equipment or resources are essential; 

5 We must wear the single garment that is our Christian identity and never exchange it for any other garment.

The homily now follows . . . 

All of our actions must be measured against a simple standard: Do they originate in our relationship with Christ

Sunday's Gospel passage recounts how Jesus sent his disciples out on mission. We shouldn't read this text as if it were just an interesting description of the mission of the apostles. Mission is an intrinsic part of the life of every baptized person, and this text must be read as if it were spoken directly to each of us.

 The first important point to be drawn from the text is that Jesus calls the disciples to himself and then sends them out on mission. Mission is something that has its source in Christ, not in us. Many of the things that we do, originate in our own designs, plans, or instincts. And the things that come purely from us also finish with us. But things that derive from our relationship with Christ have influence that goes far beyond the immediacy of what we do or say. We should be extremely fearful of things that do not originate solidly in our relationship with Christ. Everything that we do or say, or omit to do, must be evaluated against that standard.

 How can we know if our actions truly have their origin in Christ? The first thing is simply to ask ourselves each time we do or say anything: "Does this originate in my relationship with Jesus?" This simple habit provokes the kind of self-awareness that leads to wisdom, enabling the person to distinguish between acts that stem from Jesus or simply from us. But if one does not even bother to ask this question then one will never attain the capacity for discernment. 

Christian missionary activity is not individualistic. It must be done in communion with the Church and others

Jesus calls the disciples to himself and sends them out in twos. Christian mission generally does not involve solitude. There are many reasons why it is better to go on mission in twos, and these have been highlighted by the fathers of the church and others. But the principle reason is that of communion. "Where two or three are gathered together, there am I in the midst of them". To work in twos means to avoid the self-deception of being autonomous. It means to work in a context in which each one is encouraged, constrained and measured by another.

Working in communion with others gives power over the devil, who seeks to destroy communion

Working in pairs in this way, according to the text, gives the disciples power over unclean spirits. What does this mean? It means that this communion of discipleship gives power over that which seeks to destroy communion. The Holy Spirit is the one who creates communion and the devil is the one who destroys it. In fact, the word "diabolic" originally means "he who divides". The one who is in communion has power over that which seeks to destroy our communion with God and with our neighbour; namely, the spirit of impurity, that leads us to ambiguities and compromises within ourselves. Discipleship, then, involves communion with the church and with others, and gives the power to confront the personal principle of evil in the world.

 The mission of the church is not just some activity that gives us consolation or meaning. It is a project against the origin of evil itself. Our baptismal calling involves a communion with Christ that entails engaging in a battle against that which leads to unhappiness in the world. The Gospel passage then goes on to give some important instructions about how we should embark on this mission.

To be a good missionary, a person must simply be grounded in Christ. Material resources, techniques and structures are secondary

The missionary is not to take purse, haversack or sandals. These objects represent all of the supports that we have in this world. In order to complete our mission none of these things are essential. This instruction of Jesus is striking! Often when we embark on pastoral projects the first thing we think of is monetary and material resources. According to our modern criteria, Jesus would have been a hopeless organiser of pastoral initiatives! When Jesus sent people on mission he asked simply that they be missionaries, not that they be furnished with the materials "necessary" for mission. This is a very important point. In order to be a good father or mother, the essential thing is to be a good father or mother, not merely to have all of the material things that are useful for parenting. To exercise the priestly ministry well, similarly, one must simply be a good priest. The structures and techniques that complement good parenthood, or good priestly ministry, are important, but one must first have the essential characteristic that gives value to everything else.

Reception and rejection of the Gospel

What a marvellous text with which to contemplate the nature of our mission as Christians! We are told to stay in a house in a given district until our work is finished in that area. This refers to the fact that our missionary work should not lead us to have transitory or fleeting relationships with people, but we should remain in communication with people for as long as the Lord decrees is necessary. Sometimes, even pastorally, we jump from one relationship to another without ever really engaging in serious communication with people.

 The Gospel passage also deals with the theme of the rejection of the Gospel. When someone rejects the Gospel then this is something that must be acknowledged and accepted. The shaking off of the dust from one's feet is not an act that needs to be physically carried out. It is a symbolic act whereby we acknowledge that the Gospel has been rejected and we move on.

A Christian who accepts his mission can bring about conversion and change of heart. The various orders that Jesus gives in this passage are a veritable course of formation in Christian mission. What a beautiful mandate from Jesus! By following these instructions we are given authority over unclean spirits and attain the power to heal humanity of the illnesses that obstruct our conformity to Christ. What great things we are called to do as part of our wonderful faith!