Sunday, July 3, 2022
Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
First Reading: ISAIAH 66:10-14
Responsorial Psalm: PSALMS 66:1-7, 16, 20
Second Reading: GALATIANS 6:14-18
Gospel: LUKE 10:1-12, 17-20
If there is one thread that runs through the readings today, it is grace. The first reading calls us to rejoice because God wishes the best for us. In His infinite goodness, God offers us peace. ‘I send overflowing peace like a river. In the second reading, Paul tells us that the only reason to boast is the cross of Christ and not anything we have done. In the Gospel, when the disciples rejoice because of what they accomplished, Jesus says, the right reason to rejoice is that our names are written in heaven.
We are not used to thinking about God as a mother. Our first reading today uses the analogy of Zion as a mother, and boldly depicts God as comforting his people like a mother giving suck to her children. By calling God Father, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God is the first origin of everything and the transcendent authority; and that He is at the same time goodness and loving care for all his children. But God’s parental tenderness is also expressed by the image of motherhood. In Isaiah 42: 14 the Lord said “I have always held my peace, I have kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labor…” in Isaiah 49: 15, he questioned, “can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? And if she would forget, yet will not I forget thee.” The image of God as mother emphasizes God’s immanence and the intimacy between creator and creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents who are the first representatives of God for man. As parents offer their best to their children, so God wants us to rejoice and be glad. He declares prosperity for us like a river.
Experience tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of fatherhood and motherhood. This can affect how we see God. But God transcends the categories of father and mother, He is God. he is not fallible. We can be sure that he will not fail us. But we must be loving children. The responsorial psalm invites us to reflect on his past mighty deeds during the exodus. His past saving action for his people assures us that He will even do more on behalf of his people. We may be harassed and persecuted, but God remains with us.
In the Gospel today, Jesus appointed 72 others and sent them out. He tells them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;” in other words, there are not even enough of you. These words are as true today as they were over two thousand years ago. The world is still desperately in need of the Good News and apostolate. The next thing He did was to warn them, it would be a dangerous job. They would be like lambs in the midst of wolves. That’s not an appealing image. Lambs have no defense. Their only defense is their shepherd. In our apostolate, we must put our trust in God who is our shepherd. Despite being thrown into a world that is becoming more and more against God, we are called to carry out our apostolate with courage, trusting that God will protect us. As the lamb cannot walk into a pack of wolves unless the shepherd is right beside it, Jesus is revealing that the mission He is entrusting to us cannot be accomplished without him. We must rely on him and follow his direction.
Following the Lord closely demands total detachment and complete abandonment to divine providence. Missionaries must learn to rely on God to provide for them. If the early missionaries had waited to have enough provisions before setting out, many would still not have heard the Gospel message. When God calls, he demands an urgent response. Thus, Jesus tells them, “Salute no one on the road.” St Ambrose asked, “does the Lord wish to get rid of a custom so full of kindness?” Hardly. In 2 Kings 4: 29, God commanded Elisha not to salute anyone he met when he sent him to lay his staff on the body of a dead child. God gave him this order so as to get him to do this task without delay. He is not to waste time by stopping to talk to any passerby he met. Therefore, there is no question of omitting good manners to greet others. It means to express that we must take care to remove every possible obstacle on the way of service. When God commands, human considerations that can compromise or frustrate the urgency of carrying out a divine instruction should be set aside.
In the second reading, Paul contrasts his own attitude with the Jews and Gentiles who used to boast about bearing on their body the sign of the Old Covenant, circumcision. Paul insists that there is only one ground for boasting – the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the New Covenant has been sealed and the Redemption brought about and which therefore has come to be the sign of the Christian. This was the core of Paul’s preaching. It is the cross of Christ that has made us a new creation, not any work. Supernatural grace operates at a much higher level than any mere human action. Just as God in creating the world made everything out of nothing so too grace is granted without there being any previous merits. Grace is the only thing that matters with regard to salvation.
Happy Sunday
Fr Chidi Onwuka M,Ss.Cc