14th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Discipleship

06-26-2022Weekly ReflectionFr. Bing Colasito

Lk 10:112, 1720

Today, the Gospel gives us a peek at the life of the earliest Christian disciples. From the twelve intimate disciples, Jesus expanded by choosing 72 others and sending them in pairs. The large number represents a wide circle of collaboration and scope of operation, eventually throughout the world. The sending in twos is consistent with the Jewish practice that only upon the word of two witnesses is a truth established. Disciples are sent not in their name and about themselves; but God and His Kingdom.

The task of the seventytwo is to prepare the way to every town and city the Lord Himself is to visit. Like the first (72) disciples, parents prepare the way of Jesus in the life of their children so that, one day, they decide to follow Jesus. In the Church, we accept infant baptism; we believe that parents are the source of human life. They are also the source of moral, religious, and spiritual life. We cannot give a Christian formation to our children in a vacuum and let nature take its course. Jesus says that the harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few, so we pray with our children, students, and young people for vocations. We pray that Christian families continue to be the seedbed for vocations.

Jesus gives instructions to the seventytwo whom He sends by twos. 1.) Disciples are to travel light and be free of all material attachments that could slow them down. They have a clear mission; this should be their only concern. To be agents of healing, they must be free from financial and material worries. Because if the disciples’ heart is in his mission, security is the last of his concern. 2.) The MISSION is urgent there is no time to waste, and constantly moving on. There is an urgency, for the harvest is abundant and ripe; there is no time for delay. 3.) Disciples are agents of peace. Every mission starts with the blessing of the Lord, of peace. A disciple is blessed when a greeting is not returned; when charity is not reciprocated, and the spirit of goodwill is met with suspicion, but still, he continues the mission.

Disciples receive the special grace of healing. More than ever in recent history, our world and humanity need spiritual healing. The pandemic affected all countries: the high number of infections, the low resources, and no capacity to respond to this magnitude of contagiousness, many countries were illequipped and unprepared. Healing of body, mind, emotions, and spirit is greatly needed. Jesus says that the evil ones are powerless with people who are healers who fully trust in the Lord.Where good things grow, weeds cannot flourish.

Let us all pray for the grace of faith. Remember, grace is more than something we work for or earn; it is a gift from God. Discipleship is all about God and not about us. Let us pray for the grace to see the mas-ter plan of God and trust that all things come to fulfillment in His way and in His time.I do not understand the mystery of grace, only that it meets us where we are and does not leave us where it found us.