OT XXVI [C]: Amos 6:1a, 4-7; 1Tm 6:11-16; Lk 16:19-31

September 27th is the feast of Saint Vincent de Paul. In the 16th century France, Saint Vincent de Paul observed the disparity between the rich and the poor. As a priest, he had the opportunity to experience the aristocratic life as well as the life of the destitute poor in Paris. He organized groups of women called Charities who gave their time and belongings to the poor. Some of these women chose the consecrated life and became the first female congregation to live a consecrated life “in the world,” and not in the cloister. Saint Vincent de Paul and Saint Louise de Marillac founded this congregation, named the “Daughters of Charity.”  Our first U.S.-born saint, Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton, founded the U.S. branch of the Daughters of Charity. Two centuries after Saint Vincent de Paul, a 20-year old college student, Frederick Ozanam, and five other students, witnessed the dire poverty of the lower social classes in Paris. They decided to dedicate themselves to the poor, after the example of Saint Vincent de Paul. In 1833, they established “The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul.”  They were determined to bring not only bread but friendship to the poor. They would not ignore the Lazaruses at their door in 19th century Paris. In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives us a warning, pointing to the destiny of the rich man who neglected his duty to show mercy to poor Lazarus. The rich man was punished, not for having riches, but for neglecting the Scriptures and what they taught.

Amos, in the first reading, issues a powerful warning to those who seek wealth at the expense of the poor and who spend their time and their money only on themselves. He prophesies that those rich and self-indulgent people will be punished by God with exile because they don’t care for their poor and suffering brothers.

The sin of the rich man in the gospel parable was that he never noticed Lazarus who represents a fact of life: the poor, the sick, and the unfortunate who are always around us. He did no wrong, but he did nothing. In the Catholic teaching, that is the sin of omission (not doing what one is supposed to do).

Jesus told this parable to condemn the Pharisees for their love of money and lack of mercy for the poor. He also used the parable to correct three Jewish misconceptions held and taught by the Sadducees: 1) Material prosperity in this life is God’s reward for moral uprightness, while poverty and illness are God’s punishment for sins. Hence, there is no need to help the poor and the sick for they have been cursed by God. 2) Since wealth is a sign of God’s blessing, the best way of thanking God is to enjoy it by leading a life of luxury and self-indulgence in dress, eating and drinking, of course, after giving God His portion as tithe. 3) The parable also addresses the false doctrine of the Sadducees denial of the soul’s survival after death. Jesus challenges these misconceptions through the parable and condemns the rich who ignore the poor they encounter.

The problem of the rich man was that he was insensitive to the needs of his fellow men. Insensitivity is infectious, a disease that is spreading fast not just in wider society but also much closer to home.  All sadly traits of a modern day society are manifested when we find ourselves consumed by social media, our own personal egos, selfishness and lack of willingness to stand up and do the right thing.

But there are also people who proved that their little actions can impact the world.

After needing 13 litres of blood for a surgery at the age of 13, a man named James Harrison pledged to donate blood once he turned 18. It was discovered that his blood contained a rare antigen which cured Rhesus disease. He has donated blood a record 1000 times and saved 2000000 lives.

For the past ten years, Luis Soriano, a teacher in the small town of La Gloria, Colombia, has created a mobile library with the help of his donkeys. He then travels through the fields to the villages beyond where children await his visits impatiently. He firmly believes that bringing books to people who don't have access to them can improve the country and open up possibilities for the future generation.

We are all rich enough to share our blessings with others. God has blessed each one of us with wealth or health or special talents or social power or political influence or a combination of many blessings. We need to remember that sharing is the criterion of the Last Judgment: Matthew (25:31ff), tells us that all six questions to be asked of each one of us by Jesus when He comes in glory as our judge are based on how we have shared our blessings from Him (food, drink, home, mercy and compassion), in our brothers and sisters, anyone in need.’ Our choices here determine the kind of eternity we will have. It has been put this way: “Where we go hereafter depends on what we ‘go after,’ here!”

While enjoying these blessings, we should not be insensitive to the needs of less fortunate. Our little acts of kindness can bring smiles to the life of many. And they will be our advocates to plead for us. When the rich man reached his destiny Lazarus was there but there was nothing for Lazarus to plead for him. Let us try to do whatever little is possible for us to alleviate the sufferings of people around us. Not a single act will go waste. Everything will be account for in our favour.

OT XXIV [C] Ex 32:7-11, 13-14; I Tm 1:12-17; Lk 15:1-32

A divorced woman found herself struggling with an increasingly rebellious teenage daughter. It all came to a head late one night when the police called her to pick up her daughter who had been arrested for drunk driving.  The two of them didn’t speak on the way home or next day either, until at last the mother broke the tension by giving her daughter a small, gift-wrapped package.  The girl opened it with an air of indifference and found inside a small rock.  “Well, that’s cute, Mom.  What is it?” “Read the card, dear,” the mother replied.   As the girl did so, tears began to trickle down her cheeks, and she gave her mom a hug as the card fell to the floor.  On the card her mother had written: “This rock is more than 200 million years old.  That’s how long it’ll take before I give up on you.”  That’s what Jesus is telling us about God in today’s readings: He never gives up on us.

Today’s readings remind us that God actively seeks out the lost, wants their repentance and rejoices when the lost are found.

 Chapter 15 of Luke’s Gospel has been called “the Gospel within the Gospel,” because it is the distilled essence of the Good News about the mercy of our forgiving Heavenly Father. The whole chapter is essentially one distinct parable, the “Parable of the Lost and Found,” with three illustrations.  (We chose the optional shorter version). Loss, searching, finding, rejoicing, and sharing of the joy is the pattern in the first two parables. These parables remind us that we have a God who welcomes sinners and forgives their sins whenever they return to Him with genuine contrition and resolution.

The shepherds were famous for their dedicated, sacrificial service, perpetual vigilance, and readiness for action.  Hence, the shepherd was the national symbol of Divine Providence and self-sacrificing love in Israel. Two or three shepherds might be personally responsible for the sheep owned by several families in a village. If any sheep was missing, one of the shepherds would go in search of it, sending the other shepherds home with the flock. The whole village would be waiting for the return of the shepherd with the lost sheep and would receive him with shouts of joy and of thanksgiving.  That is the picture Jesus draws of God.  God is as glad when a lost sinner is found as a shepherd is when a strayed sheep is brought home.  Men may give up hope of reclaiming a sinner, but not so God.  

To err is human, but one requires courage to recognize the error and rise from it. To recognize our mistakes often we need the help of external agents. When David sinned against Uriah, he required the proclamation of Prophet Nathan to realize his mistake. When Israelites sinned they needed the intervention of Moses to make them realize their mistakes.

We can learn from our mistakes only if we are able to admit them. As soon as we start blaming other people we distance ourselves from any possible lesson. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit God called him. Adam put the blame on Eve, and Eve passed it on to the serpent. When Cain was asked, “Where is your brother?” he gave an elusive answer, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” It is our natural tendency to defend us.  But if we courageously stand up and honestly say, “This is my mistake,” there begins the possibility of change. Admission of a mistake, even if privately to oneself, makes a change possible. Realization of one’s own mistakes brings in the mercy of God. The prodigal son had to acknowledge his mistake before he could turn towards his father’s home.  This is what Jesus wants us to have in mind when we find ourselves lost, stuck in our sins, separated from him and from others.  He wants us to see him as our Savior, not as our punisher. Jesus came all the way from heaven to earth in order to rescue his lost sheep.

As forgiven prodigals, we must become forgiving people, for Jesus taught us to pray, “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  We need to pray for God’s Divine mercy on all of us who have fallen away from God’s grace.  

Before we go to bed at night, let us make it a habit to examine our conscience and confess to God our sins and failures of the day, asking His pardon and forgiveness. Let us resolve to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation if we have fallen into serious sins. As we continue with the celebration of the Holy Mass, let us pray also for God’s Divine mercy on all of us who have fallen away from God’s grace.  Let us open our eyes to see and ears to hear that Jesus is welcoming us back home!

OT XXI [C] Is 66:18-21, Heb 12:5-7, 11-13; Lk 13:22-30

Venerable Bishop Fulton J. Sheen tells us that we will have three surprises in Heaven. The first surprise: We will be surprised to see that many people we expected to be in Heaven are not there. The second surprise: We will be surprised to see that the people we never expected to be in Heaven are there. The third surprise: We will be surprised to see that we are in Heaven! In today’s Gospel, Jesus answers the question, as to how many will be saved, by answering how to enter into salvation and how urgent it is to strive now, before the Master closes the door. Jesus clearly explains that anyone who follows him through the narrow gate of sacrificial serving and sharing love will be saved. Jesus also admonishes his followers to concentrate on their own salvation instead of worrying about the salvation of others.

When the questioner asked Jesus “How many will be saved?” he was assuming that the salvation of God’s Chosen People was virtually guaranteed, provided they kept the Law. In other words, the Kingdom of God was reserved for the Jews alone, and Gentiles would be shut out.  

Hence, Jesus’ answer must have come as a shock. Jesus affirms that God wants all persons to enjoy eternal life with Him. But he stresses the need for constant fidelity and vigilance throughout our lives. Thus, Jesus reminds us that, even though God wants all of us to be saved, we all need to work at it. Entry into God’s kingdom is not automatically granted, based purely on religious Faith or nationality.

How many will be saved in the end is a decision that rests with God and depends His Justice which includes His Mercy.  Jesus came to bring God’s love and freedom to the whole world. The message of his Gospel is that there is not a single person, people, nation, race, or class, which will be excluded from experiencing the love and liberation that God offers. Hence, the role of the Christian community, from the beginning until now has been, first and foremost, to proclaim to the whole world the Good News of God’s love for the world, and then to show this Good News to be real, reflected in the loving, sharing and serving lives of individual Christians.

Eternal salvation is the result of a struggle: “keep on striving to enter.”It is like the effort one would make in swimming against the current in a river.  A man must ever be going forward or else he will go backward.   We must enter through the “narrow gate” of sacrificial and selfless service.

Entering through the narrow gate denotes a steady obedience to the Lord Jesus — overcoming all opposition and rejecting every temptation.  It is the narrow way of unconditional and unremitting love. Mere faith in Jesus and membership in His Church by Baptism cannot guarantee salvation.  Some of the Fathers of the Church interpreted the narrow door as that small place in the heart where one says “yes” or “no” to what one knows to be true.  It is the one place through which no external force can enter to shape or coerce one’s choices.

“Being saved’ is the end-result – seeing God face to face in Heaven. Jesus explains that Salvation begins with Faith.  But it is also the result of how that Faith is lived.  We cannot “earn” our way into Heaven by good works, but we also believe that we must allow God to work in our lives through His grace, a grace that is reflected in our actions.

Hence, our answer to the question: “Have you been saved?” should be: “I have been saved from the penalty of sin by Christ’s death and Resurrection.  I am being saved from the power of sin by the indwelling Spirit of God.  I have the hope that I shall one day be saved from the very presence of sin when I go to be with God.”  Therefore, the Catholic faith is not like that of some Evangelicals who believe, once you receive baptism in faith you are saved for ever; you cannot lose your salvation.  This is not what the Bible teaches in today’s gospel.

We need to make wise decisions and choose the narrow gate.  God allows us to decide every day what road we will walk down and what gate we will choose.  He encourages us, however, to choose His way:  “Choose life” (Moses – Dt 30:19-20); “There are two paths: one of life and one of death, and the difference between the two is great.”(Didache);   “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” Says Jesus (Lk 9:23).   This means a consistent denial of self and the steady relinquishing of sinful pleasures, pursuits, and interests. 

The “narrow road” or “narrow gate” concerns our everyday—pursuing the Kingdom and God’s justice instead of fame and fortune; and it involves not condemning others. It involves repentance, obedience, humility, righteousness, truth and discipleship.  Hence, let’s strive to enter through the “narrow gate” by prayer and supplication, diligently seeking deliverance from those things which would bar our entrance, and acquiring those things which would facilitate our entry.

OT XVIII [C] Eccl 1:2; 2:21-23; Col 3:1-5, 9-11; Lk 12:13-21

Dr. Carl Menninger, the world-renowned psychiatrist, was talking on one occasion to an unhappy but wealthy patient. He asked the patient what he was going to do with so much money. The patient replied, “Just worry about it, I suppose.” Menninger asked, “Well, do you get that much pleasure from worrying about it?” “No,” responded the patient, “but I get terrified when I think of giving some of it to somebody else.”

Then Dr. Menninger went on to say something quite profound. He said, “Generous people are rarely mentally ill.” “People who cannot share with others have deep-seated problems. If our level of giving to the work of God and the service of others requires no sacrifice, then we have Jesus locked in a cupboard, and he is not really living in every part of our life. In today’s Gospel parable, God calls such people “fools.”

The common theme of today’s readings is the futility of the greedy acquisition of wealth and power because everything and everyone is “here today and gone tomorrow.” Therefore, the meaning of life cannot be found in possessions but in the sharing of time, treasure and talents with the needy.

The Jewish rabbis were often asked to settle disputes among their countrymen. They judged cases using the Mosaic Law as given in the Torah – the Jewish book of civil, religious and liturgical laws.   In matters concerning the distribution of property in a family with two children, the Torah (Dt 21:15-17, Nm 27:1-11, 36:7-9), granted two-thirds of the wealth to the elder son and one-third to the younger. If there were several sons, the first-born would receive double the inheritance of his younger brothers and would serve as the patriarch of the family and executor of his father’s estate.  In the case related in today’s Gospel, either the older brother had delayed the partition of property, or the younger brother was greedy. Jesus refused to be an arbitrator in this property dispute between two brothers because he had come to bring people to God by preaching the Good News of God’s forgiving and sharing love.  But he used the occasion as a “teachable moment,” instructing the audience on the folly of greed and selfishness, while contradicting the Epicurean motto: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

Jesus challenged his followers to learn from the experience of the foolish rich man. We are called to look at our own lives, our own “riches” and to evaluate our true needs and wants. St. Gregory the Great taught that when we care for the needs of the poor, we are giving them what is theirs, not ours. We are not just performing works of mercy; we are paying a debt of justice. Life does not consist in possessions but in sharing what we possess with others. The goods of the earth have been given to everyone.

Bible does not condemn wealth altogether. In the Old Testament there are many examples of people who God blessed with material possessions. Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, Jacob are some examples of people who were indeed owners of much material wealth, which came from God.

It is not therefore wrong for somebody to have possessions. Job was the wealthiest man of the East but his wealth was not his joy! He didn’t put his trust in wealth.  Job’s trust was in God. That’s why he reacted the way he did when he lost everything: “God gave it, God took it”.

 Both the man of the parable and Job were rich men. But this is their only similarity. While Job’s joy was not dependent on his wealth, and his gold was not his confidence, this man here is the exact opposite. He is the picture of a worldly wealthy man.

It was not the plenty that was bad.  The problem with this man was his reaction towards this. He failed to recognize the provider of the good crop. He failed to give glory to the owner of everything. Instead he considered everything as belonging to him. This was his folly.

In the book of Malachi (3:10-12) we read: Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it. Therefore everything that we own is God’s.

We must be generous in sharing our time, our treasure, and our talents, the three elements of Christian stewardship.  Every one of us is rich in one thing or another.  The parable instructs us to share these gifts. Even if we are poor financially, we may be blessed with intelligence, good will, a sense of humor or the ability to encourage, inspire and support others. 

We should strive to avoid anything that could possibly separate us from Christ, anything that could break our friendship with him by violating his command to love God and love our neighbor.

There is a beautiful prayer in the book of Proverbs which the Jews used to say and which we can adopt too.  “Give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the Lord?’ Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God.” (Prv 30:8-9).

Jesus asked the rich fool, "And the things you have prepared for, whose will they be?" Are we prepared to deal with that question? Let’s try to become rich in matters that belong to God.

OT XVI [C] Gn 18:1-10a; Col 1:24-28; Lk 10:38-42

There is a story about a man who was preparing his favorite breakfast of hot oatmeal when his daughter came rushing in with his little four-year-old grandson. “The babysitter has been delayed,” she explained, “and I’ve got to go to work. Will you keep Bobby for a few hours?” Granddad said, “Sure,” and his daughter left. Then Granddad scooped up two bowls of oatmeal. “Do you like sugar?” he asked. When Bobby nodded he asked, “How about some butter, too?” When his grandson nodded again he asked, “How about milk?” “Sure,” the boy said. But when the grandfather placed the steaming bowl of oatmeal in front of Bobby, the boy made a face and pushed it away. “But when I asked you, you said you liked sugar, butter and milk,” grandfather protested. “Yeah,” Bobby answered, “but you didn’t ask me if I like oatmeal.” Granddad forgot to ask the most elemental question. Sometimes we forget to do that, too. We never set priorities. We never list in our own minds what those things are that matter most. We allow life to buffet us here and there and we never center in on those things that really matter. 

The key to the Christian life is SETTING PRIORITIES: Jesus Christ first, then everything else. The only way really to learn that lesson is to spend some time every day, “sitting at the feet of Jesus.” Today’s first reading describes how Abraham and Sarah’s hospitality to strangers was rewarded by God. The Gospel passage describes how Martha wanted to extend the traditional generous hospitality of her people to Jesus, the true Messiah, by preparing an elaborate meal for him, while her sister Mary spent her time in talking to him and listening to him. Presenting Martha as a dynamo of action and Mary as a true listener to the word of God, today’s Gospel invites us to serve others with Martha’s diligence, after recharging our spiritual batteries every day by prayer – listening to God and talking to God – as Mary did.

Prayer and actions must be continuous, complementary and mutually dependent. Prayer without action is sterile, and action without prayer is empty. We are expected to be “contemplatives in action” because only those who listen carefully to the Word of God know how to behave in the way that God wants, when they show deep concern for the well-being of other people. That is why Jesus reminds Martha that proper service for him is attention to his instruction, not just an elaborate provision for his physical needs.

Martha loves Christ, but she still depends on her own strength to earn his love in return. She hasn't learned that what matters is not so much what we can do for Christ as what he has done and wants to do for us.

Feeding 15 people is no small task, and she could have used her sister's help.  So she tries to get Jesus to tell Mary to lend a hand. But Jesus doesn't. He actually commends Mary and reproves Martha.

Why? Christ was glad to be served, but he was even gladder to be loved.

It is a well-known fact that those who are in the caring professions, like doctors, nurses, pastors, social workers and even parents, often suffer from burnout and terminal exhaustion as Martha did. People suffering from burnout often end up angry, anxious, and worried. Hence, occasionally we need to put aside the work we do in serving others and just spend some time being with the Lord, loving Him, talking to Him and listening to Him, fully aware of His holy presence in our souls. We may do the recharging of our spiritual energy also by our personal and family prayers, by the meditative reading of the Bible and by participating in the celebration of the Holy Mass. Christian husbands and wives should develop “couple spirituality” and seek more opportunities to pray together.

Martha has become a symbol of action-oriented, responsible people who get the job done. Our world needs such men, women, boys and girls, and so does the Church. How would the Church survive if not for the Marthas who sing in the choir, clean the church, set up for the Mass doing the Sacristan job, altar servers, ushers, people taking communion to the sick, yard mowers, and all the Marthas working at the Picnic this coming week? The Church could not exist without them. There is nothing wrong with being a responsible, action-oriented, get-it-done kind of person. But we must find time to listen to God speaking to us through His word, and time to talk to God. Jesus clearly said: be hearers and doers of the word. Jesus never reversed that order. God ordered 6 days of work and the 7^th day for rest, not just physical rest, but to enter into God’s rest, which is for prayer and spiritual refreshment, the Sabbath prayer.

We don’t do God a favor by showing up for Church on Sunday and throwing something into the basket. This does nothing for God. It does not enhance His dignity or add anything to His power or glory. God does us a favor by hosting a meal for us every Sunday in which He offers Himself to us as food, in the most intimate act of communion with Himself imaginable. Mass is not about what we do for God, but about what God does for us. Often our attitude reflects like we are going to give something to God and God is gaining something by our action, and that is why at least some of us do not consider Sunday Mass a priority. Someone related to me a few weeks ago that when she needed a ride to Church on Sunday her granddaughter asked her, Do you still go to Church every Sunday Grandma? And she responded, well am I not supposed to? The new generation thinks that going to Sunday mass once a month is more than enough. Well, that is not the law. If we don’t, we break the law and breaking the law is a sin. In the OT. When people stayed away from going to the weekly meeting in the tent in the wilderness they were punished. It was meant to enrich them not God.

Jesus wants us to choose the better part, to depend more on him than ourselves, so that he can give us his best. Today, let's promise that we will.

OT XV [C] Dt 30:10-14; Col 1:15-20; Lk 10:25-37

When the Communists came to power in China, not a few Christians were arrested and tried for their faith. One was given the opportunity to reveal why he chose Christianity instead of the religion of his ancestors. I was in a deep pit, he said, sinking in the mire, and helpless to deliver myself. Looking up I saw a shadow at the top, and soon a venerable face looked over the brink and said, “My son, I am Confucius, the father of your country. If you had obeyed my teachings, you would never have been here.” And then he passed on with a significant movement of his finger and a cheerless farewell, adding, “If you ever get out of this, remember to obey my teachings.” But alas! That did not save me. Then Buddha came along, and, looking over the edge of the pit he cried, “My son, just count it all as nothing. Enter into rest. Fold your arms and retire within yourself, and you will find NIRWANA, the peace to which we all are tending.” I cried, “Father Buddha, if you will only help me to get out, I will be glad to do so. I could follow your instructions easily if I were where you are, but how can I rest in this awful place?” But Buddha passed on and left me to my despair.

Then another face appeared. It was the face of a man beaming with kindness and bearing marks of sorrow. He did not linger a moment, but leaped down to my side, threw his arms around me, lifted me out of the mire, brought me to the solid ground above, then he did not even bid me farewell, but took off my filthy garments, put new robes upon me, and bade me follow him, saying, “I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” That is why I became a Christian.

As followers of Christ, we can very easily see ourselves in that injured man because we were once dead, badly beaten up by our sins. But, we have been spotted by – ‘The Good Samaritan par excellence and our ultimate neighbor, beyond all comparison,’ who healed and delivered us from our sins out of his loving mercy and compassion for us. After he healed us, he entrusted us to his inn, which is his Church, for further spiritual caring and nourishment. And, our Samaritan who saved us is none other than Jesus himself, who said that he will be back someday in the future to take us with him to his Kingdom. This is what St. Paul tells the Colossians in today’s Second Reading, which is actually a Christological hymn: “God wanted all things to be reconciled through him and for him, everything in heaven and on earth, when he made peace by his death on the cross.”

The Jews and the Samaritans during the time of Jesus hated each other (as I explained two Sundays before). When Jesus told the story of a Samaritan helping a Jew, everyone was probably shocked. A Samaritan outcast helping a Jew? Impossible! “Good Samaritan” would have sounded like a bad joke—a contradiction in terms. The parable was an invitation for Jews to love Samaritans and Samaritans to love Jews. It is an invitation for people of all times to love their enemies — to love those they have previously hated.

The parable makes us realize that every human person is our neighbor. The Jericho Road is any place where people are being robbed of their dignity, their material goods or their value as human beings. It is any place where there is suffering and oppression. As a matter of fact, the Jericho Road may be our own home, the place where we are taking care of a mother or father, husband or wife, or even our own children. We may find our spouse, children or parents lying “wounded” by bitter words, scathing criticism or other, more blatant forms of verbal, emotional or physical abuse. Hence, Jesus invites us to have hearts of love. What God wants more than anything is for us to show our love to others, in our own home and school, in the workplace, and in the neighborhood, as the Good Samaritan did. Jesus is inviting us to have hearts of mercy for those who are being left hurt or mistreated on any of the “Jericho Roads” of life.

We are invited to be people of generosity, kindness, and mercy toward all who are suffering. A sincere smile, a cheery greeting, an encouraging word of appreciation, a heartfelt “thank you” can work wonders for a suffering soul.  One’s neighbor is the living image of God the Father, redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and placed under the permanent action of the Holy Spirit. One’s neighbor must therefore be loved, even if he or she is an enemy, with the same love with which the Lord loves him or her.” Let’s resolve to prove ourselves to be good neighbors not only just today, but as long as we receive graces from the Lord.

OT XIV [C]: Is 66:10-14c; Gal 6:14-18; Lk 10: 1-12, 17-20

St. Philip Neri, who earned the title “Apostle of Rome” came down to Rome in the early 1500s as an immigrant from Florence and a layman. When he arrived, he was horrified by the physical and moral devastation of the city. Rome had been sacked in 1527 by the Germans who had left much of the city in ruins. The Gospel wasn’t being preached, and many priests and cardinals were living in open defiance of Christ’s moral teachings. Philip prayed to God to learn what he might do. He read the letters that St. Francis Xavier had sent back to Europe from India, where he had been converting tens of thousands. Philip thought that God was calling him to be a missionary to India, to give his life in proclaiming the Gospel. When he went to his spiritual director and told him what he thought God was asking of him, the wise old priest affirmed his desire to serve and bear witness to Christ. However, he told Philip to focus his attention on re-evangelizing those around him, declaring, “Rome is to be your India!” This was quite a task for one man. But Philip, relying on God’s help, started — first as a layman, then as a priest — to convert Rome, one person at a time. He would cheerfully go to street corners and say, “Friends, when are we going to start to do good?” He developed various entertaining social and religious activities to give the people, especially the young people, better alternatives for their hearts and time than those offered by the debauched culture around them. His impact was enormous, and when he died in 1595, much of Rome had been reconverted. The same God who spoke to Philip almost five hundred years ago challenges each one of us this morning through the Scriptures, to make “Your home and your family, your workplace and your parish are your mission field!”

While all the synoptic Gospels mention a mission of the Twelve, only Luke adds a second mission of the 72.  Moses selected the seventy-two elders to guide and govern his people. Here, Luke shows Jesus doing something similar, sending out in pairs, seventy-two other disciples to towns and villages to announce his visit. In this way, Jesus connects his Messianic mission with the whole of Israel’s history in which 72 had become a symbolic number. The Jews also believed that there were seventy-two nations in the whole world, and they had seventy-two members in the Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jews.

The disciples received instructions as to how they were to carry out their mission. For example, they were to “carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals, no food, no walking sticks.” His command was that the disciples should give up even these necessities so as to be both a living act of Faith in God and “walking signs” to those who saw them.  The disciples were only armed with their Faith and the name of Jesus. They needed nothing more. Their detachment from material goods would enable them to uphold the absolute priority of preaching the Good News. The spirit of detachment would also help them to trust more deeply in Divine Providence and would oblige them to rely humbly on the hospitality of those who were receptive to the Gospel. Their life-style should help proclaim their message: “The reign of God is at hand.”

Their guidelines were simple: go where they were received (v 5-6); remain in one place (v 7) and eat what was set before them (verse 8). After settling down in a house, if they were invited by a richer family they were not to move to another house for better convenience. This would help them avoid the appearance of being mercenary.  The basic idea behind Jesus’ instruction is that his disciples were sent as walking witnesses, and, hence, they were not to depend on anything or anybody except on the Holy Spirit of God and on Divine providence.

“Greet no one along the way.” This instruction implies that the mission was so urgent that nothing should divert the disciples from it.  In the Asian culture if you greet somebody they would be invited into the house for refreshments and chit chat. This would waste away the important time. Therefore, they were not to greet anyone on the way.

 “Let your peace come back to you.”  This means, “Don’t take rejections personally.  You have done your part, so don’t worry about the outcome.” It is not up to us to force anyone to accept Jesus. Our mission is to prepare the way. If a person’s heart is open, the Lord will enter in.

Just as Jesus in today’s Gospel gives instructions to the seventy-two missionaries, he also gives each one of us a mission to carry out. There are over one billion Roman Catholics and about as many other Christians who accept Jesus as “Lord” and “Savior.” So there are over 2 billion missionaries in a world of 7.7 billion people.  A recent survey asked the question, “Why do adults join the Catholic Church in spite of the scandals publicized in the media?”  Seventy-five percent of the new adult converts to the Catholic Church reported that they were attracted by a personal invitation from a Catholic who had a lively relationship with Christ and his Church.  As faithful Catholics, we will attract others to the Catholic Church—just as a rose attracts people by its beauty and fragrance.

Let us become heralds of the Kingdom in our own homes by treating each other with profound respect. When spouses respect each other and, thus, teach their children to do the same, our neighbors will experience the Kingdom in our families, because the Kingdom of God is God’s rule in our hearts enabling us to do His will. Let’s start evangelizing today, and let’s start it right from our home.