Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, cycle C

Luke 10:1-12, 17-30

In the gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke, there is a scene where Jesus sends out his apostles two by two to preach and proclaim the kingdom.  In Luke, that’s in chapter 9.  Today’s reading is only in Luke, and it’s chapter ten, shortly after the commissioning of the apostles.  So who are these 72 that he sends out?  Jesus wasn’t thinking about missionaries as such, people who dedicate their lives to spreading the gospel.  His 72 were people who had been following him and had taken his message to heart.  These 72 are you and I.

Notice also that he sends them to where he intends to go.  We baptized and confirmed Catholics have an advantage over the 72; we are part of the Body of Christ; where we go, He is already there with us.  

And there is an urgency; we are to get moving.  I had a friend who was a presbyterian minister.  He told me a presbyterian minister joke, namely that when they went to found a church, they had to wait for the railroads to be finished, because only then could they bring along their libraries.  The methodists, on the other hand, stuck a  bible in their saddlebags ind got going.  And when the presbyterians finally  arrived at their destination, they usually would find an active methodist congregation.  

Jesus understands human nature; he tells us we will b e like lambs among wolves.  IF we are going to be in that much danger, it follows that we might as well take nothing with us, and depend on God alone.  To me that means that we should be prepared to evangelize at any moment -- you never know when an opportunity will come.  Now there is an important point to be made;  evangelization is not the same thing as catechesis.  Catechesis is teaching the truths of our faith -- the ten commandments, the creed, the Our Father, the seven sacraments.  You can spend a lifetime learning these truths; they are mysterious, and the more you know, the more you want to know.  Large books have been written about the Trinity, the Eucharist, and in fact every truth of our faith.  Even theologians don’t know it all.  

But evangelization is very different. Each of us can grasp this right away;  The Greek word for this is Kerygma, which means “proclamation”.

When we evangelize we tell someone that God loves them and has a plan for their life; that sin will destroy your life; that Jesus died to save us from sin, death and hell, and that they are called to repent (which means change the way you think) and believe this.  In our own words we disciples of Jesus are supposed to be proclaiming this to everyone we meet.  That doesn’t mean we go around making those statements; pretty soon no one would want anything to do with us.  But we keep in mind the goal of the encounter --- to get people to recognize that Jesus is the answer.  And the sad thing is, despite our efforts, most will not listen -- at least this time.  But a seed has been planted.  In the gospel Jesus predicts that there will be some who are really open to the proclamation, and others who will be hostile.  Fine.  You’ve done your part, you’ve told them something about the fact that the kingdom of God is at hand.  Now move on.  

Jesus sends his disciples in pairs.  I grew up around Mormons and I always admired the fact that they consider it an obligation to go on mission.  Mission can take many forms, but the one we are most familiar with is to meet two young men, or nowadays, a young man and a young woman, or two young women, knocking at our door.  It’s a lot easier to evangelize with a companion.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we Catholics took this commission of Jesus to heart, and devoted some time to  door to door ministry?  Doors would be slammed in our faces, or course, but now and then we’d come across someone ripe for coming into a relationship with Jesus.  But married couples can be very effective evangelists to their children and to their friends.  

Jesus has given us power, just as he gave his disciples power.  We all know people who make us feel better about ourselves.  That’s a power.  We respond to holiness in others.  

And if we study today’s gospel, we see a really good reason to be evangelists -- our names will be written in heaven;  Don’t you want that for yourself?

So evangelize.  It’s not rocket science.  I know a young lady who has a great way of evangelizing;  she sits in a public place and says the rosary.  Now and then someone comes along and wants to know what she’s doing, or says “I’m a Catholic also”. And a conversation starts, and she eventually works in some simple truth, like “God loves you” in the conversation.  No instant conversion, just a little push; and maybe a soul is saved.