The Homily

Ordinary Time 14

Sunday, July 04, 2010
Isaiah 66: 10-13 + Psalm 66 + Galatians 6: 14-18 + Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20
Audio version of homily

The Gospel for today is full of interesting details that could provide the seed for countless homilies and reflections.
We have all heard enough about the harvest and the laborers over simplifying this text into countless vocation homilies as though Jesus was talking about seminarians and priests! These instructions could leave us reflecting upon an appropriate life-style for the journey to the new Jerusalem, and the details could occupy a Bible Study class for a month with the cultural issues of this time in history. But mentioned twice in this passage is the seventy-two who are sent two-by-two ahead of him to every town and place he was about to visit.

Two times is enough to get my attention.
In an age and culture of individualism and consumerism where people are consumed like products imported from abroad, we are more and more marginalized when we take seriously and personally the message of peace. We live in a world that is becoming estranged from Christian values even thought the latest round of political adds insist that this candidate or that is committed to values.
They never seem to tell what those values are beyond “family” values. Those same “value touting” politicians would be the first to make life more difficult for a single parent family increasing the cynicism and skepticism many of us have with talk about values. I always wonder: “Whose values?” The values of the Gospel are not easily confused, but they are very difficult to reconcile with the values of power and self-interest. Herein lies the challenge.

To remain Christian in more than name one must take a resolute stand against the commonly accepted axioms of this world.
Going with the flow, means going down the drain. Shrugging off injustice as though it’s just the way things are is participation in the victory of that injustice. To become a true disciple requires a demanding course of induction into the adult Christian Community.
There is no facing the reality of life in this world with the faith of a twelve or sixteen year old.

Young people not challenged, instructed, and informed are sacrificed to the idols of hedonism, and the creeping consumerism of our culture will consume them. It’s no wonder half of our young people are in bed this morning. Having learned nothing about their faith since First Communion Class they think this is all about them, what they can get out of it, and that somehow religion is a private matter.

There is nothing private about the Gospel.
There is nothing private about the Kingdom of God. The moment the Gospel is proclaimed,
the moment the Gospel is understood we move into a relationship: not a private relationship with God, but into a communion of God’s people. He sent them out two by two.
This was not for protection from violence and danger. It was because their credibility and their success rested upon their relationship and their working together. This will require that we continue work at developing a sense of solidarity held together by relationships with mature and exemplary Christians who represent Christ and his way of life. In this company and with this mission, Joy is unmistakable. Grim determination, dour isolation, and suspicious, tentative attitudes are not the consequences of discipleship with Jesus.

Now don’t think that Jesus stood there counting out 72 individual people. That is not what Luke is saying. That number is biblical short-hand for everyone.
Don’t think that Jesus waited till they were finished with their formation and passed all the tests of “disciple school”. They are only half-way to Jerusalem, and he sent them out.
He does not wait till we are “ready”. The sending comes along the way, not at the end.

The greatest challenge we face is not rejection or being laughed at. It is the risk of becoming grim, sour, cynical, defeated, and marginalized. The challenge is to let Joy in God permeate all we do and all we say.
The prophet of the first reading today speaks to a people emerging from generations of exile. He challenges their sadness and their bad memories with the reality of God’s forgiveness and the comfort of reconciliation.

When those disciples returned to Jesus,
they were not whining about how hard it was.
They celebrated the fact that they could see the stranglehold of evil being lessened
and they were a part of it first in their own lives, and then in the lives of those they visited. People will be attracted to Christ and to our way of life by our joy, not by rules, regulations, and grim sacrifices.
Our giving is joyful, our sacrifice is a delight, our service is an act of love.

All along the way to Jerusalem, we are and will be cautioned, again and again, not to get, but to give. Not to save up, but to surrender. Not to load up, but to let go.
And when we do, we will arrive in Jerusalem rejoicing.

— Fr. Boyer