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Sunday Gospel Reflection 20070708

Conversion is not a once-in-a-lifetime moment but a continuous, ongoing, lifelong process which brings us ever closer to the holiness and love of God.
The conversion process begins with a "coming to one's senses," with a realization that all is not right with our values and style of life. Prompted by a faith response to God's call, conversion initiates our desire for change.
Persons who turn to God in conversion will never be the same again, because conversion implies transforming the way we relate to others, to ourselves, to the world, to the universe and to God. Unless we can see that our values, attitudes and actions are in conflict with Christian ones, we will never see a need to change or desire to be reconciled. Each experience of conversion prompts us to turn more and more to God, because each conversion experience reveals God in a new and brighter light.

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Like Lambs Among Wolves
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 8, 2007

Gospel
Lk 10:1-12, 17-20 or 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 laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers 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 laborer 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.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’
Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”

The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
“Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.”
Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to ‘tread upon serpents’ and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.”




For those who believe in Jesus Christ his life, death, and resurrection brings God’s merciful kindness into sharp focus. We hear him telling his disciples in today’s Gospel reading not to rely on the material resources they can take with them to guarantee the success of the mission upon which he sends them. He warns them not even to rely on the power they have experienced over demonic powers. He tells them rather to rejoice because their names are written heaven, because his Father in heaven has chosen them. We know that his followers could not understand what he was telling them until they had witnessed his passion and resurrection. Once they had seen God’s love and mercy shining through their risen Lord they were able to rejoice in the midst of suffering themselves. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the source of true peace and mercy.

Christian tradition identifies the Twelve apostles with ordained ministry in the church. When at the Last Supper Jesus commissioned his followers to “do this in memory of me” he was addressing the Twelve, the clergy. If this is so, then the Seventy who are sent out on mission in today’s Gospel must be understood as lay people. Today’s Gospel, therefore, is the commissioning of lay ministry. Luke is saying, therefore, that mission is not only for the clergy, mission is not only for the “big guns,” mission is for us all, ordained and non-ordained followers of Christ alike.
What is the reason for lay involvement in the spreading of the gospel? Because “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” (Luke 10:2). This is as true today as it was in the days of Jesus. What role are the laity supposed to play in fulfilling the mission of Christ? The role of the laity is twofold: “Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (verse 2), i.e. prayer, and “Go on your way. See, I am sending you” (verse 3), i.e. active involvement. It is not a question of doing either the one or the other. Every Christian is called to participate in the spreading of the message of Christ through a commitment to prayer and a commitment to action. Pray as if everything depends on God, work as if everything depends on you. Jesus goes on to detail the disposition we should bring to the work of evangelization: a spirit of meekness and vulnerability, a spirit of politeness and adaptability to the changing and challenging local situations in which we find ourselves in the course of mission work.
Like Lambs Among Wolves. Being called “lambs” surely surprised the disciples. These weak and fuzzy animals are hardly creatures with which mature men or women might easily identify themselves. Yet Christ makes an important point. Before the aggressive nature of evil we can feel as powerless as little lambs. The Second Vatican Council states, “The whole of man’s history has been the story of dour combat with the powers of evil, stretching, so our Lord tells us, from the dawn of history until the last day. Finding himself in the midst of this battlefield man has to struggle to do what is right, and it is at great cost to himself, and aided by God’s grace, that he succeeds in achieving his own inner integrity” (Gaudium et Spes, 37).
Lambs Taking on Demons. The disciples were given the power to expel demons and tread upon serpents. In other words, the forces of evil are no match for an apostle of Christ. But how can this be, since evil is so powerful and overwhelming? A Christian “treads upon serpents” and “expels demons” by living the virtues of kindness and charity. The best response—indeed the only worthy response—to the evil of sin, is charity. A lamb’s goodness is more attractive and wins more hearts than a wolf’s malice. Goodness wins souls for Christ’s Kingdom.

Jesus places special emphasis on the work of curing the sick. This is not an optional task in the work of spreading the gospel. Someone may ask: Is health of body necessary for salvation? Is holiness of soul not enough? We tend to forget that holiness is another word for wholeness. It has to do with the whole person, body and soul. The Good News is good not only for the soul but for the body as well. The seventy disciples went on their way trying to implement what Jesus charged them to do. They were surprised to see that, acting in Jesus’ name, not only physical sicknesses but “even the demons” submit to them (verse 17). A similar happy surprise awaits all followers of Christ, ordained or non-ordained, who dare to embrace the work of spreading the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ just as he directed us.

Many of us are old enough to remember when there were no automatic dishwashers in our homes … some of us still possibly don’t have one in our home. Many of us can remember when there were three or more children in almost every home. Most of us can recall what happened after each meal … “NO, it’s YOUR turn to wash…HER turn to dry and MY turn to put the dishes away …always the bickering about whose job it was to do what, for almost every task to be accomplished.
It’s been that same way in the church …it’s the Pastors job to spread the Good News… I’m not trained for that. But training is and wasn’t the answer… by our baptism each and every one of us was and is called to discipleship, to spread the Good News.
The Church is a family, and just like our own individual family, unless everyone takes up some part of the task, things just don’t get accomplished. We all know that, but like children of old, there is always the bickering of whose turn it is to wash, dry and put away, we in the Church keep trying to pass the task off to someone else. In the case of the Church, we want the task of evangelization and discipleship to be done by our Pastors.
When we grew up and began to recognize our responsibilities we came to understand that if the family’s household was to run with some smoothness and tranquility, we would have to shoulder certain task and guide younger members of the family into doing things without a lot of bickering. Quite often that meant we had to take on the task that was least desirable, be that, wash the dishes, take out the garbage or mow the lawn. If the family was to be a happy family we couldn’t afford division and dissension - we had to work things out…and to our great surprise, when we undertook the least desirable task, the younger members learned to do those things without being made to do them.
So it is with the Church, each of us is called to take on the role of discipleship, to spread the Good News. The Vatican II documents on the Laity gave us some direction – Hear them … “There are innumerable opportunities open to the laity for the exercise of their apostolate of making the gospel known and mankind holy. The very testimony of their Christian life and good works done in a supernatural spirit, have the power to draw men and women to belief and to God”.
But we all know that no matter how powerful good example is, it is not enough. The document recognized this and so it continued “An apostolate of this kind does not consist only in the witness of one’s way of life, a true apostle looks for opportunities to announce Christ by words addressed either to non-believers with a view to leading them to the faith, or to believers with a view to instructing and strengthening them and motivating them toward a more fervent life”.
But again like children, we are quick to respond… but I’m not trained to do that, I don’t know enough, I’d make too many mistakes… and besides, that’s the job for the Pastor… when will we grow up? When will we realize we don’t have to have all the answers? When will we start? Our answer should be - TODAY … I WILL START TODAY!
How to start? … That’s a good question. I don’t know what is best for everyone, but let me suggest a very simple way that will give results … at least some results to all who try it.
Take the bible off the shelf and start with the New Testament portion… it begins with Matthew who starts off giving us the Ancestors of Jesus Christ … This is the list of the ancestors of Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, who was a descendant of Abraham.
Read for five (5) minutes – NO LONGER – STOP wherever you are after five minutes. Then spend five or ten minutes just thinking about what you have just read … after doing this for several days … you won’t have to think about what you have just read, because the Spirit will soon enter in and tell you what you just read…and you’ll start to understand in a way you haven’t in the past. Are you aware that if you take just five (5) minutes each day NO MORE – just 5 minutes a day, that one year later you will have read EVERY WORD in the New Testament … think of that, five minutes a day and you complete in one year the reading of the New Testament. And that’s reading at a comprehension rate, not speed-reading. If you start today, next year at this time you will have done what you most likely haven’t done in your lifetime … read the entire New Testament.
Like St. Paul tell us … when I was a child I spoke like a child, thought like a child … now that I am a man ... I must speak like a man, think like a man, etc. Each of us, man or woman, now that we are grown, we must begin to act like adults, we can’t leave evangelization to everyone else … we must do our part … and why?? … hear once again the ending of today’s gospel and know that we really don’t need any other reason…”REJOICE … BECAUSE YOUR NAMES ARE WRITTEN IN HEAVEN.”
Today’s harvest is abundant and spilling over. Laborers are desperately needed, and each of us has been called to help.

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Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions
(1804-1860)


Not much is known of the early life of Emmanuel Ruiz, but details of his heroic death in defense of the faith have come down to us.

Born of humble parents in Santander, Spain, he became a Franciscan priest and served as a missionary in Damascus. This was at a time when anti-Christian riots shook Syria and thousands lost their lives in just a short time.

Among these were Emmanuel, superior of the Franciscan convent, seven other friars and three laymen. When a menacing crowd came looking for the men, they refused to renounce their faith and become Muslims. The men were subjected to horrible tortures before their martyrdom.

Emmanuel, his brother Franciscans and the three Maronite laymen were beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI.

Comment:

The world in which Emmanuel and his companions lived was very different from our own. We cherish the freedom to worship as we choose. No one is likely to threaten us with torture and death if we refuse to follow another path. The peril we face is much more subtle: the lure of a materialistic culture. It may not persuade us to give up the practice of our faith, but neither does it encourage us to live it fully. Just as Emmanuel and his companions were generous with their lifeblood, so must we be generous with our goods and our time.

posted by Mike Young @ 1:57 PM