20220703 THE JOY OF EVANGELIZERS
03 July, 2022, Sunday, 14th Week in Ordinary Time
First reading | Isaiah 66:10-14 © |
Towards Jerusalem I send flowing peace, like a river
Rejoice, Jerusalem,
be glad for her, all you who love her!
Rejoice, rejoice for her,
all you who mourned her!
That you may be suckled, filled,
from her consoling breast,
that you may savour with delight
her glorious breasts.
For thus says the Lord:
Now towards her I send flowing
peace, like a river,
and like a stream in spate
the glory of the nations.
At her breast will her nurslings be carried
and fondled in her lap.
Like a son comforted by his mother
will I comfort you.
And by Jerusalem you will be comforted.
At the sight your heart will rejoice,
and your bones flourish like the grass.
To his servants the Lord will reveal his hand.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 65(66):1-7,16,20 © |
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
Cry out with joy to God all the earth,
O sing to the glory of his name.
O render him glorious praise.
Say to God: ‘How tremendous your deeds!
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
‘Before you all the earth shall bow;
shall sing to you, sing to your name!’
Come and see the works of God,
tremendous his deeds among men.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
He turned the sea into dry land,
they passed through the river dry-shod.
Let our joy then be in him;
he rules for ever by his might.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
Come and hear, all who fear God.
I will tell what he did for my soul:
Blessed be God who did not reject my prayer
nor withhold his love from me.
Cry out with joy to God, all the earth.
Second reading |
Galatians 6:14-18 © |
The marks on my body are those of Jesus
The only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. It does not matter if a person is circumcised or not; what matters is for him to become an altogether new creature. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule, who form the Israel of God.
I want no more trouble from anybody after this; the marks on my body are those of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, my brothers. Amen.
Gospel Acclamation | Jn15:15 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
I call you friends, says the Lord,
because I have made known to you
everything I have learnt from my Father.
Alleluia!
Or: | Col3:15,16 |
Alleluia, alleluia!
May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts;
let the message of Christ find a home with you.
Alleluia!
Gospel |
Luke 10:1-12,17-20 © |
Your peace will rest on that man
The Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest. Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals. Salute no one on the road.
‘Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Stay in the same house, taking what food and drink they have to offer, for the labourer deserves his wages; do not move from house to house.
‘Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.” But whenever you enter a town and they do not make you welcome, go out into its streets and say, “We wipe off the very dust of your town that clings to our feet, and leave it with you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God is very near.” I tell you, on that day it will not go as hard with Sodom as with that town.’
The seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.’
THE JOY OF EVANGELIZERS
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [Isa 66:10-14; Ps 66; Gal 6:14-18; Luke 10:1-12,17-20]
In the gospel, “the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them out ahead of him, in pairs, to all the towns and places he himself was to visit. He said to them, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.'” Only in St Luke’s gospel is this episode of the sending of the seventy-two, besides the sending of the Twelve apostles earlier on in chapter 9, recorded. This underscores that the mission of the Church is not just the obligation of the priests and religious but the laity as well. All disciples of our Lord have an obligation to announce the Good News to all of humanity.
Why should we announce the Good News to others? Simply because it is Good News! Good News, if it is truly good news, cannot be kept. Of course, this presupposes that we have received the Good News ourselves. Without encountering the Lord deeply, there is no good news to share. Announcing the Good News presupposes that like Paul and the apostles, we have encountered the Lord Jesus, His love and mercy. Pope Emeritus Benedict in his encyclical, “God is love” wrote, “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.”
This is why all true evangelizers of the gospel are full of joy. Pope Francis reminds us that “an evangelizer must never look like someone who has just come back from a funeral!” Let us recover and deepen our enthusiasm, that “delightful and comforting joy of evangelizing, even when it is in tears that we must sow… And may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the good news not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ.”
What is the basis of our joy? For many of us, we take joy in evangelizing only when we are successful in our outreach and ministry. We measure our joy according to how people rate us and welcome us. So a preacher is filled with joy when he preaches well and receives good reviews. A teacher is filled with joy when his or her work is recognized by the school and the parents. A ministry leader or member is full of joy only when the people acclaim them for their service, their leadership, their singing or teaching. When we focus our joy in the ministry on tangible success, reactions to what we do, our joy will be short-lived. This joy does not come from our heart, does not come from within but it is more an attempt to impress, to make use of people to feed our ego and our insecurity. It is inward-looking and self-centred.
This is why the Lord sought to redirect the joy of the disciples not at the results of their ministry or the power given to them over sickness and even the demons, but on their place in heaven. When “the seventy-two came back rejoicing. ‘Lord,’ they said, ‘even the devils submit to us when we use your name.’ He said to them, ‘I watched Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Yes, I have given you power to tread underfoot serpents and scorpions and the whole strength of the enemy; nothing shall ever hurt you. Yet do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.'” Indeed, this is the ultimate joy, to be with God and to be in His kingdom. There is no greater joy than to be counted as among God’s chosen people.
Indeed, the joy of the gospel is about meeting God who has revealed Himself in Jesus. He is the answer to all the riddles and meaning of life and the aspiration of every human person to true happiness, joy, love and freedom. Indeed, all those who encounter the Risen Lord always go away with joy and freedom of heart because they are set free from their emptiness in life, loneliness, meaninglessness, fears, anxieties and most of all, the crippling effects of sin. Many are left unsatisfied because they are consumed by consumerism and their conscience is dead to what is truly good and uplifting because they no longer can hear the voice of God.
St Paul makes it clear that the consequence of welcoming Christ is that we become a new person, a new creature. This is the joy of being a Christian. St Paul told the Galatians, “The only thing I can boast about is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world. It does not matter if a person is circumcised or not; what matters is for him to become an altogether new creature.” Everything else is secondary. It is how we live our lives in love, peace, tolerance and forgiveness. When we lack compassion, forgiveness and tolerance, it shows that we are self-righteous and think that the Church is a military camp rather than a home where people are allowed to make mistakes, be forgiven and be loved. In the same vein, the Lord told the disciples to practice tolerance. “But whenever you enter a town and they do not make you welcome, go out into its streets and say, “We wipe off the very dust of your town that clings to our feet, and leave it with you. Yet be sure of this: the kingdom of God is very near.”
This is what the last chapter from the prophet Isaiah wants to underscore as well. “Rejoice, Jerusalem, be glad for her, all you who love her! Rejoice, rejoice for her, all you who mourned her!” The prophet was prophesying that the Lord would rebuild Jerusalem after their exile. Once again, Jerusalem would be like a mother to the children of Israel, reborn again.” Jerusalem is a symbol of the eternal Jerusalem which is God’s dwelling place. His presence in our midst will bring us peace. “For thus says the Lord: Now towards her I send flowing peace, like a river.”
How, then, can we become joyful evangelizers? By allowing the power of God to work in and through us, just like the apostles. The Lord instructed the disciples He sent out to cultivate a poverty of spirit, that is, total reliance on the grace of God. He said, “Start off now, but remember, I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Carry no purse, no haversack, no sandals.” A disciple of the Lord must not be attached to material things, otherwise he will be tempted to power, glory and pleasure. He will lose his focus on sharing the joy of our Lord who comes to serve and not be served. Living a life of detachment from the desire for material things, power and glory is a prerequisite to find happiness in our ministry.
Secondly, there must be a sense of urgency. “Salute no one on the road.” We must be passionate and waste no time reaching out to those who need Jesus. The Lord said at the beginning of the gospel, “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.” Indeed, there is no time to waste on gossiping, political infighting over petty matters, over rules, over rubrics. Sometimes, too much of our energy in church ministry is spent dealing with complaints, unhappiness, disgruntled people, so much so we have no more energy to do proactive ministry, changing lives, preaching the gospel and doing good. We spend our time on the defensive instead of being proactive. We must see the bigger picture and not just be too narrowly focused. This is what St Paul told the Jewish Christians who were upset over the failure of the Gentile Christians to observe the circumcision law. Sometimes, some of our Catholics are very intolerant of mistakes.
Finally, we are called to be people of peace, of joy, of healing. Jesus said, “Whatever house you go into, let your first words be, “Peace to this house!” And if a man of peace lives there, your peace will go and rest on him; if not, it will come back to you. Whenever you go into a town where they make you welcome, eat what is set before you. Cure those in it who are sick, and say, “The kingdom of God is very near to you.” Indeed, the joy of the evangelizer is to be a Christ to whoever we meet each day, bringing them hope, words of peace, reconciliation with God and with their fellowmen, spiritual and emotional healing. This is what a joyful evangelizer of the Good News must do.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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