FOURTEENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
7 JULY 2019
When
Jesus sends out his seventy-two disciples ahead of him, he gives them some very
specific instructions. These seventy-two
had experienced the joy of being transformed by their encounter with him. They had come to understand his unconditional
love and the profound peace his presence brought. Knowing that experience, Jesus sends them out
with a definite sense of urgency. They
do not need to take much – no money bag, no sack, and no sandals. Once they reach their destination, they
should enter the house and announce the message of peace that they have
experienced. They should depend on the
hospitality of those who receive this peace.
They are to announce that the Kingdom of God is at hand – not a personal
salvation in the afterlife, but the presence of unconditional love now. Having completed their mission, the
seventy-two returned with rejoicing that they had shared the Kingdom of God
with others.
We tend to
think that this sending of the seventy-two was something that happened in the
past. However, we need to understand
that Jesus is talking to us today. We
have encountered the mystical presence of Jesus Christ in our lives. Many have experienced that presence in a Christ Renews His Parish retreat (a
truly shameless plug for the retreat here next weekend!). We have encountered his unconditional love in
our families and in good friends. I just
spent a week with my family on a hiking trip in Oregon. With a priest in the family, we didn’t have
to look for a local church. We gather
here to celebrate the unconditional love of Jesus Christ at this
Eucharist. The Lord did not send the
seventy-two out as isolated individuals.
In the same way, he has gathered us here as the Body of Christ, truly
present where two or more are gathered.
He sends us
on the same mission as the seventy-two.
We don’t need to take much. We
proclaim the Kingdom of God when we care for the sick or tend to the dying or
comfort those in distress. We make that
same announcement when we return insults with kindness at work or school. We proclaim the Kingdom when we defend the
rights of the poor and vulnerable.
There is a
word for our task. It is called
evangelization, a concept that is foreign to us Catholics. However, we have embraced the word and placed
it as the center of the five year plan for the parish. In putting together this plan, we are
convinced that it is time for us to move beyond our new physical church to
become more visibly the Mystical Body of Christ in our world. Announcing that the Kingdom of God is in our
midst can be accomplished by our resolve to be present to others in the name of
Jesus Christ.
Although
this task can bring much joy, it also has its challenges. Jesus warns us, as he warned the seventy-two,
that our message will not always be accepted.
We will experience rejection and failure. We will know the effects of wolves eating
away at the Gospel message. In the
process of putting together this five year plan, we were also aware of the
terrible wounds inflicted by the clergy abuse crisis. This crisis can easily cause people to walk
away from the Church, instead of being drawn more deeply into it. That is why I highly recommend that you read
Bishop Barron’s new book, Letter to a
Suffering Church. Bishop Barron
presents the crisis with honesty and frankness.
But, he also gives us a way forward.
Jesus tells
us to shake the dust that clings to our feet when we suffer failure or
rejection. His advice helps us to move
forward. In shaking the dust from our
feet, we let go of the bitterness and anger that come from rejection and
failure, and even from the obvious sins of priests and bishops. In shaking the dust from our feet, we can
move forward learning the same lesson as the seventy-two did. It is not power within the Church that keeps
us going, but knowing that our names are written in heaven.
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