Word to the Wise
Thursday, October 1, 2015 - Thursday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Neh 8:1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12 and Luke 10:1-12]Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest." [Luke]
OCTOBER 1 ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS
In his apostolic exhortation, THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL, Pope Francis challenges all baptized Christians to become "missionary disciples" and to make the church a missionary church. Does this mean we must all pack our bags and go somewhere else? For some, the answer will be "yes" and they will do that. For others it will mean going next door or to the local food bank or soup kitchen. The patron saint of the "missions" is none other than a cloistered Carmelite nun whose feast day we celebrate today, St. Therese of the Child Jesus, also known as "the Little Flower."
The Gospel of Luke is organized around Jesus' journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem. Luke shows Jesus to be a man with a very definite mission in mind, and clearly organized to get the job done. The Twelve were not going to be enough. So, he appoints "seventy-two others." (There could be an echo here of Moses delegating in Exodus 18 or Numbers 11?) They become "advance men" who prepare the way for his mission. I have memories of political campaigning in Louisiana in which there was always a team of people who arrived ahead of the candidate to "warm up the audience," as it were.
The importance of this missionary effort should be clear. It is God's work, but we can either advance it or hinder it by our actions and lives. Whether or not there will be future missionary disciples may depend on how well we cooperate with the Lord's instructions to us. St. Therese never left her cloister, but she ardently prayed for the missionary effort of the Church. She did what she could under her circumstances. So should we. AMEN
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