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14th Sunday Ordinary Time

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Cycle C

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Q274: Does the gospel reading today about “mission“ (Lk 10:1-12, 17-20) have any remote connection with our Independence Day celebrations (4th of July)?

This weekend I am happily out-of-state, attending a family reunion. It is a glorious time for our Rooney clan, well over 150 of us. We are holding our reunion at a Benedictine Abbey, which will highlight our deep rootedness in the Irish Catholic Tradition, not just our own private and unique family traditions. We will tell stories and reflect and share about God's goodness in our lives. We will encounter Him in covenant love at many levels. It is also the weekend of Independence Day, when we celebrate our nation's liberty and freedom and maybe boast about our nation's strengths.

It will also be a serious time to look at our clan's weaknesses and needs. We will extend loving support and prayers for each other; that is what families do. But it is also the time to look at our “bigger” family, the USA, to see what we can do to help in her weaknesses. Our nation's defects are all too glaring and loathsome: high rates of abortion and drug abuse; a contraceptive mentality; a mounting rate of suicides from hopelessness; a widening gap between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' from greed and materialism; and a general atmosphere of “relativism“ that denies the existence of objective truth.

The Good News of liberation and freedom always resides in the message of God's love and God's kingdom. Seventy-two disciples were sent out to plant seeds to convert the hearts of those who had forgotten how to love. That is what will happen at our Family reunion: a renewal of our commitment to spread the Good News to our country, both in corporal and spiritual works and words. Jesus Christ can heal our hemorrhaging nation, but he needs all of his believers to get involved and take responsibility for the mission of His church.

Know Your Catechism! Jesus gave us a share in his mission, his joy and his sufferings; what do we do with that gift (CCC #787)? Are you being subtly snared by 'contemporary atheism' which looks for liberation only through economics and temporal society (CCC #2124)? By leading a holy life, the laity consecrate the world itself to God through that very holiness (CCC #901). On this Independence Day we could remember that there is no 'true' freedom except in the service of good alone (CCC #1733).

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The Lord appointed a further seventy-two.

How did Jesus select his seventy-two missionary disciples? Probably the same way he selected his twelve apostles - a different approach in each case.

How has he chosen priests since then to send as "workers in the harvest"? Again, however great their numbers, always by a "custom-made" invitation. Sometimes He has called them in some startling way, either because they are already pretty much saints or pretty much sinners. But in most cases He arranges to drop into their hearts the seed of a hint. The seed grows, and suddenly the young man becomes aware of it. "I think I'll give it a try!" he says.

Some of the best foreign-born missionaries to the U.S.A. in the last century were inspired to come here by published narratives of missionaries already in the field. Especially influential were the magazines of three great missionary organizations: the Society for the Propagation of the Faith (France), the Ludwig Mission Society (Bavaria) and the Leopoldine Society (Austria-Hungary). Father Frederick Baraga, Slovenian apostle to the Chippewa Indians, was fired with zeal for the U.S. missions by what he read in the Leopoldine magazine. So was the Bohemian, St. John Neumann. So, too, was the Croation, Father Joseph Kundek who pioneered the church in Indiana. When Kundek read the reports of American Missionaries, he declared "I can do the same as these missionaries!" And he did.

It was not at all the prospects of an easy life that attracted these apostolic men. It was the challenge of a hard life. One appeal for missionaries addressed to French candidates even said: "We offer you: no salary, no holidays, no pension, but much hard work, frequent sickness, an unknown grave."

Yet, it was precisely this challenge by something bigger than themselves that attracted our top missionaries.

Today, vocations to the priesthood have dropped off alarmingly. Why? Maybe we haven't been praying enough to the "Lord of the Harvest". Maybe also we have tried to "sell" the priestly vocation too much as a "crown", too little as a "cross". Young people will still respond to challenges. As John Paul II said to the youth of Costa Rica, "I know you want noble ideals, even if the cost is large, and you do not want to lead grey lives."

-Father Robert F. McNamara

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Q431: What is going on in this gospel? The conditions to be a missionary are so austere that they are almost foolhardy.

I suspect one would think long and hard about one’s real commitment to Jesus, before he or she would accept a mission like the one we hear of in today’s gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20). The “fine print” is very clear: “carry no suitcase; take no money; go barefoot; and don’t engage in idle chatter with your mission partner.” How many people do you think would sign up at the recruitment desk today, with such conditions?

What is at stake here is the success of the proclamation of the kingdom of God. Faith comes from hearing. But how receptive would the hearts of the members of the audience be if the missionary showed up in a Rolls Royce, wearing designer clothes from Saks 5th Avenue, and smoking an expensive, imported Arawak cigar ($125 each)? Such a life style for a missionary would run counter to their message: total trust in God.

Accordingly, the missionary adopts a frugal life style. As the famous saying of Marshall McLuhan goes, “the medium is the message” – meaning, I would suggest, that the perception about the “messenger” is crucial for setting the stage for the message itself. In other words, if the missionaries show up empty-handed, it would be a powerful and convincing sign, or message, that they themselves believe totally in their own proclamation that Jesus is Lord; that the kingdom of God is at hand; and that the Lord will provide for the needs of those who trust in him.

The disciples of Jesus who followed his instructions were successful beyond their wildest imagination! We can easily draw the conclusion that they also “prayed for more laborers for the harvest,” as Jesus requested. That, too, is part of our mission.

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! All disciples of Jesus share his power; they also share in his lot (CCC #765) – that is, his mission, joy, and sufferings (CCC #787). Pray that the Lord send more laborers for the harvest!

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Q587: It takes a lot of courage for a disciple to accept a task of going out “into the midst of wolves” but to continue acting like lambs (Luke 10). Does Jesus have some hidden meaning with this mandate?

My wife and I have been supporting the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers for over fifty years. We have always admired their commitment to serve in practical ways in foreign missions, proclaiming the gospel in both word and service. Today’s gospel speaks to this kind of missionary undertaking, showing how real missionaries are totally dependent on the Lord and his providence.

One of those Maryknoll missionaries (Fr. Wm. Grimm) penned an allegorical observation many years ago that has always remained with me. Basically he said we need to reflect seriously on our baptismal mandate as we try to live out our Christianity in this world of wolves. Are we converting wolves, or are we becoming just like them? Have we become wolves in sheep’s clothing? Here is a challenge that faces all of us: “Four-legged wolves do not learn from researchers who imitate wolves. Neither do two-legged wolves learn from lambs who imitate wolves. We must teach the world's wolves a new way of living. We must teach respect for the weak and service to them. We must teach the wolves that lambs are not for devouring, but for showing us something about God.” Lest we forget, that was also the task of the Lamb of God.

Prophesying about messianic times, in Chapter 11 of his book the Prophet Isaiah says the “wolf will live with the lamb” – and the Jay Leno’s of the world will immediately suggest that the lamb will probably sleep with one eye open all the time. ☺ Jesus may seem in the eyes of the world to be giving very impractical advice. But look at the results, says Fr. Grimm; the disciples brought peace, defeated the powers of Satan, cast out demons, cured the sick, and brought people to Christ. That is what lambs do, in the kingdom of God! Become a lamb!

KNOW YOUR CATECHISM! The Lord Jesus endowed his community with a structure that will remain until the Kingdom is fully achieved. The Twelve and the other disciples share in Christ’s mission and his power, but also in everything that happens to him (CCC #765).

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