Word to the Wise
Friday, October 1, 2021 - Friday in the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
[Bar 1:15-22 and Luke 10:13-16]"Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." [Luke]
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2021 ST. THERESE OF THE CHILD JESUS (the Little Flower) Doctor of the Church
The gospel scriptures for the past couple of days and today have come from Jesus' "charge" to the "seventy-two further disciples. The church of the Gospel According to Luke is a missionary church and Jesus is "missioning" these disciples. In today's passage, we see reflected some of the contemporary experiences of those disciples. Rejection of the message is one of the realities of missionary life.
One of the many ministries issuing from the Catholic student center here at Texas Tech is a "Ask a Catholic" table on a mall outside the university student center. In this context, our dedicated Catholic students can experience at first hand the possibility of rejection. It can be jarring and a challenge to their own faith. Jesus points out that the decision to reject has consequences just as the decision to accept his truth does. The missionary must be a worthy representative so that the choice is clearly made. One of the sad realities of Catholic life in the USA is the loss of members due to poor preaching or pastoral practices. In that case, the church shares the responsibility for the rejection!!
The words about rejection in today's gospel passage could put the responsibility squarely on the one who rejects, but there is a presumption that the missionary will be a true and faithful witness. AMEN