14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

LUKE 10: 1-12, 17-20
IN THE EARLY DAYS OF OUR COUNTRY, THE CONGREGATIONALIST DENOMINATION WAS VERY PROMINENT IN NEW ENGLAND. WHEN PRESBYTERIANS CAME FROM ENGLAND, THEY RECOGNIZED THAT THEY WERE VERY SIMILAR TO CONGREGATIONALISTS, SO THEY MADE A DEAL. THEY WOULD EVANGELIZE THE REST OF THE COUNTRY AND NOT COMPETE WITH THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. PRESBYTERIANS IN THOSE DAYS HAD A WELL DEVELOPED THEOLOGY AND THEIR MINISTERS WERE VERY WELL EDUCATED. THEY WOULD LOAD THEIR BOOKS ONTO RAILROAD CARS AND GO WHEREVER THE TRAIN COULD TAKE THEM.
IN THE MEANTIME, THE METHODISTS WERE COMING TO THE UNITED STATES AS WELL. IF YOU WANTED TO BE A METHODIST PREACHER, YOU DIDN'T NEED A TREMENDOUS EDUCATION; YOU HAD TO HAVE SINCERITY AND A FAMILIARITY WITH THE BIBLE. THE AVERAGE METHODIST PREACHER HAD ABOUT A YEAR OF EDUCATION. AS METHODIST CHURCHES WERE ESTABLISHED, THE FOUNDING PREACHER WOULD BE EVENTUALLY REPLACED BY A BETTER TRAINED MINISTER AND THE CHURCH WOULD BECOME ESTABLISHED.
THE METHODIST PREACHERS RODE HORSES AND WENT WHEREVER THERE WERE PEOPLE; AND THEIR COLLECTION OF BOOKS INCLUDED ONLY WHAT THEY COULD PUT IN THEIR SADDLEBAGS – A BIBLE, A FEW TRACTS, MAYBE A HYMNAL. IT IS NO WONDER THAT THE METHODIST DENOMINATION SO VASTLY OUTNUMBERED THE PRESBYTERIANS IN THOSE DAYS.
THERE ARE TWO THINGS THAT JESUS ASKS OF HIS DISCIPLES. AND IT IS SIGNIFICANT THAT HE IS SPEAKING TO SEVENTY DISCIPLES, NOT THE TWELVE APOSTLES. HE IS SPEAKING NOT JUST TO THE PRIESTS AND BISHOPS, BUT TO ALL HIS FOLLOWERS. THE FIRST THING JESUS ASKS IS THAT PREACHING THE KINGDOM IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. IT IS SO URGENT THAT HE DOES NOT WANT HIS FOLLOWERS TO BE WEIGHED DOWN BY ANYTHING THAT MIGHT SLOW THEM DOWN. HE DOESN'T WANT HIS FOLLOWERS TO WASTE TIME WHERE THEY ARE NOT WELCOMED, BUT TO MOVE ON AND MAKE THE MOST EFFICIENT USE OF THEIR TIME.
THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOWED JESUS KNEW BIG THINGS WERE IN THE AIR; THEY EXPECTED THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD WAS ABOUT TO BREAK THROUGH AND REPLACE ALL THE IMPERFECT HUMAN ATTEMPTS AT BUILDING A WORLD IN WHICH MEN AND WOMEN COULD LIVE IN PEACE AND DIGNITY. THEY HAD A SENSE OF URGENCY, THEY FELT THAT THEY HAD THIS ONE CHANCE TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS.
AFTER 2000 YEARS, IT DOESN'T SEEM SO URGENT ANYMORE. JESUS HASN'T COME AGAIN, THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS STILL ARRIVING, HASN'T ARRIVED YET. WE THINK WE HAVE PLENTY OF TIME.
BUT WE DON'T. WE ARE JUST LIKE THOSE DISCIPLES, WE HAVE OUR LIFETIMES TO SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS, NO MORE; AND MANY OF OUR FELLOW MEN HAVE ONLY ONE CHANCE TO HEAR THE GOOD NEWS – WHEN WE ANNOUNCE IT. IF WE DO NOT PREACH THROUGH OUR WORDS AND ACTIONS, WHO WILL? IF WE DO NOT SPREAD THE GOOD NEWS, WHO ELSE WILL? GOD INVITES EACH OF US TO ENTER INTO HIS MINISTRY, IN A WAY THAT NO ONE ELSE CAN DUPLICATE.
ST ALPHONSUS LIGUORI MADE A VOW WHEN HE WAS FIRST ORDAINED THAT HE WOULD NEVER WASTE TIME. AND HE DIDN'T. HE WAS A TIRELESS PREACHER AND WRITER, RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONVERSION OF MANY HEARTS. HE HAD A SENSE OF URGENCY. THE SAME IS TRUE OF ST. MAXIMILLIAN KOLBE. HE WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A VAST ENTERPRISE ALL AIMED AT INCREASING THE DEVOTION OF PEOPLE TO JESUS THROUGH MARY. WHEN YOU READ HIS BIOGRAPHY, HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS LEAVE US BREATHLESS. HE HAD A SENSE OF URGENCY.
THE SECOND THING THAT JESUS ASKS OF HIS DISCIPLES IS A SENSE OF JOY. WHEN THE DISCIPLES RETURN, THEY ARE OVERJOYED. THEY HAVE BEEN CASTING OUT DEMONS, THEY HAVE HEALED THE SICK, PEOPLE HAVE RESPONDED TO THEM. WHEN WE WORK FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, WHEN OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH JESUS BEARS FRUIT, WE EXPERIENCE JOY, A JOY WE CAN'T EXPERIENCE DOING ANYTHING ELSE. JESUS HIMSELF REJOICES IN OUR SUCCESSES, AS HE DOES WITH HIS DISCIPLES IN THIS GOSPEL READING.
WHEN YOU AND I SEE THAT SOMEONE CHANGES FOR THE BETTER BECAUSE OF SOMETHING WE SAID OR DID, WE EXPERIENCE JOY. WE CAN SPEND HUGE AMOUNTS OF TIME WITHOUT SUCCESS, BUT EVEN A LITTLE SUCCESS BRINGS US JOY.
THE MARKS OF A DISCIPLE INCLUDE A SENSE OF URGENCY AND A SENSE OF JOY. NOTHING SHOULD STAND IN OUR WAY IN PREACHING THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. EVERY TIME WE ENCOUNTER ANOTHER HUMAN BEING, EVEN MEMBERS OF OUR FAMILY, EVEN PERFECT STRANGERS, WE SHOULD ASK, WHAT CAN I DO TO BRING JESUS TO THIS PERSON, WHAT CAN I DO TO BRING THIS PERSON CLOSER TO JESUS? WE DON'T HAVE TO BE FANATICS; WE JUST HAVE TO BE CONSCIOUS OF THE FACT THAT THIS MOMENT MAY BE THE GRACE FILLED ONE, THE ONE WHERE JESUS WANTS TO ACT THROUGH US ON THIS OTHER PERSON. IF WE ARE CONSCIOUS OF THAT IDEA, THE LORD WILL SHOW US THE WAY.
AND WE MUST BE JOYFUL. WHERE URGENCY TELLS US TO TAKE EACH MOMENT SERIOUSLY, JOY TELLS US TO TAKE OURSELVES LESS THAN SERIOUSLY. JOY REMINDS US THAT GOD IS IN CHARGE AND WE ARE INSTRUMENTS; AND AS LONG AS WE RECOGNIZE THAT WE ARE INSTRUMENTS, WHATEVER GOD DOES WITH US WILL BE ALL RIGHT. AND WHEN WE SEE GOD WORKING THROUGH US, CAN ANYTHING BE BETTER? WHEN WE SEE HIS WILL BEING DONE, CAN WE ASK FOR ANYTHING MORE?
TODAY LET US PRAY THAT WE WILL BE BETTER DISCIPLES, THAT WE WILL FELL URGENCY IN OUR MISSION, AND THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE THE JOY OF HAVING GOD WORK THROUGH US.