“After this the Lord
appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town
and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them: “The harvest is
plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to
send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out
like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and
greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this
house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on
that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house,
eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid.
Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people
welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say
to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a
town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the
dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you.
Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, on that day it
will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
The last few verses
preceding today’s gospel reading tell us about three persons who, it seems,
were ready to be disciples of the Christ. The first told Jesus: “I will follow
you wherever you go”. Jesus answered him: “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay
his head”. Jesus invited the second one. “Follow me” he said. This person
answered: “Lord, first let me go and
bury my father.” A third person, on receiving Christ’s invitation answered: “I
will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home”. The
first one invited himself and was willing to go “wherever you go”. Jesus told
him that he had nowhere to go, meaning that a disciple should be willing to go
“wherever he is sent”. The other two seemed willing to go and said: “I will
follow you, but first…”
This dialogue between
Jesus and these three persons shed a light on today’s reading. Luke says:
“After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him”.
It is Jesus who appoints disciples and he sends them where he intends to go.
There is no talk of staying with the Christ if not in sharing his mission. The
Transfiguration comes to my mind, when Peter told Jesus: “Master, it is good
for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and
one for Elijah”. The writer’s comment was: “He did not know what he said”.
Jesus told the seventy disciples “Go on your way… Carry no purse, no bag, no
sandals; and greet no one on the road ... Whatever house you enter… remain in
the same house eating and drinking whatever they provide….” A disciple, then,
goes where he is sent.
I do not want to
comment further on Christ’s instructions to his disciples before sending them in
mission. I would rather like to focus a little bit on three important things we
find in this gospel selection. I see here that Jesus teaches his disciples a prayer,
a blessing and a message. These are tools for their mission as disciples.
Jesus teaches them a
prayer, what to pray for: “Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers
into his harvest”. Jesus was asking his disciples to pay attention to the fact
that “the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few.” They were not to
take up anybody and make him disciple. Remember the three I mentioned above.
They did not put discipleship in the first place. They said: “I will follow
you, but first…” The disciples were to ask the Lord to send laborers to the
harvest that is his harvest. I remember what the apostles did when they wanted
to fill the place left vacant by Judas Iscariot. They prayed: “Lord, you can
read everyone’s heart; show us therefore which of these two you have chosen…”
(Acts 1, 24) However, disciples in mission are to be always attentive to God’s calling
to those he wants to send in his name. I remember Eli’s advice to the young boy
Samuel: “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for
your servant is listening.’” (1 Sam 3, 8) We often lament the lack of
vocations; do we ask the Lord to send people to his plentiful harvest? Do we
advise young people how to answer when the Lord calls them?
Jesus teaches his
disciples a blessing: “Peace to this house!” This blessing is not for the
building but for the persons who live in it. It reminds me that we should not
focus so much on blessing things, but those who use them. I often see people
having their cars blessed and then they drive recklessly, hoping that God’s
blessing of the car would keep them out of trouble. Remember what Jesus said:
“If anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person”.
And he teaches us to ask for peace, not any peace but the peace he promised his
disciples when he said: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do
not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do
not let them be afraid.” (Jn 14, 27) And then let us remember also what he said
in today’s reading: “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of
wolves”. We really need Christ’s peace, and we should call it as a blessing on
others.
Jesus teaches his
disciples a message to be preached: “The kingdom of God has come near to you”.
If the kingdom of God is near us, then the King is also near us. Indeed, there
is no kingdom without a king! Signs of the nearness of the kingdom are the good
work we do to our brothers and sisters in need. It is good to remember Christ’s
words when he speaks about judgment: “The king will say to those at his right
hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, … for I was hungry and you gave
me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and
you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took
care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’” (Mt 24, 35-36) A disciple
should always speak about the King, where you can find him, how you can serve
him, and how much he loves each one of us personally.
Let us then learn what
to pray for, how to bless and what to preach:
Laudare, benedicere, praedicare, and also share with others the fruit of
our contemplation, the intuitions God inspires in our minds and hearts.
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