|
|
|
|
Word To Life
|
Sunday Scripture Readings: July 8, 2007
By Dan Luby
Catholic News Service
July 8, Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Cycle C Readings:
1) Isaiah 66:10-14c
Psalm 66:1-7, 16, 20
2) Galatians 6:14-18
3) Gospel: Luke 10:1-12, 17-20
During a recent visit to New England, my wife and I spent several days in New Hampshire, traditionally home to one of the "make-or-break" primaries in the presidential election cycle.
Everywhere we went we found evidence of multiple campaigns in high gear. Every newspaper, every local newscast featured the candidates, household names and long shots, appearing at a dizzying variety of venues. And for every gathering with potential supporters -- at pancake breakfasts in diners, giving speeches in VFW halls, shaking hands at "meet and greet" cocktail parties in people's homes -- each candidate was preceded by what political pros call an "advance team."
Advance teams travel ahead of their candidate to prepare people for his or her arrival and ensure a friendly reception and an enthusiastic turnout for the picnic, town hall meeting or fish fry.
In Sunday's Gospel, Jesus commissioned 36 "advance teams" for a similar purpose, sending them "to every town and place he intended to visit." Like the political advance men and women of today, Jesus' disciples were tasked with preparing those they met for the day when Jesus himself would come to them and invite them to be his disciples too.
Unlike today's political operatives, however, Jesus' advance teams did not rely on phones banks and direct mail and the sophisticated machinery of mass communications to accomplish their tasks. These disciples were told, in fact, to travel light, relying only on the power of their message, the sincerity of their generosity and the inspiration of the Lord Jesus to accomplish their mission.
The 72 whom Jesus sent are models for all of us who are his disciples today. Everywhere we go, our conviction of the deep, abiding presence of God's kingdom, made evident by the generosity and compassion to which that conviction moves us, prepares people for a more open hearing of the Gospel and a deeper, more personal encounter with Jesus himself.
QUESTIONS:
What is one specific way I can be a more effective witness in my circle for the truth and power of the Gospel? From whom can I seek support in my task of preparing people to recognize the presence of Christ?
SCRIPTURE TO BE ILLUSTRATED:
"The Lord's power shall be known to his servants" (Isaiah 66:14c).
END
Copyright © 2006 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS Word To Life column may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method, in whole or in part without the prior written authority of Catholic News Service.
|
|
|
|
