14th Sunday of the Year 3, 2019

Through this Eucharistic celebration, may you receive the grace of renewing your commitment to be a disciple of Jesus, accepting wholeheartedly the cross of Christ in your life, becoming an instrument of healing of our wounded and sick world, and spreading the eschatological peace in our troubled world. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

                        DOCTRINE AND FAITH

Isaiah 66, 10-14c; Galatians 6,14-18; Luke 10,1-12.17-20; 14th Sunday of the Year 3, 2019

The first reading for today, Isaiah 66, 10-14c, an oracle of salvation (Thus says the LORD) dwells on the theme of rejoicing on account of the future restoration of Jerusalem (v. 12). The ones called to rejoice are those who had previously mourned for the city (v. 10). The author adroitly employs the metaphor of motherhood to characterise the relationship that will exist between the city and its inhabitants as well as the loving care this relationship will provide. Like a nursing mother, Jerusalem will be feeding her inhabitants from the fullness of her own body. The very city for which they had previously mourned will comfort them! This is truly the reason for rejoicing. With the metaphor of water, the author of the oracle once again depicts the city's life-giving properties. Water is essential for life in any part of the world, but especially in arid sectors. Since the land of Israel was bounded on several sides by deserts or barren wildernesses, the people would be keenly aware of their need for water. Flowing water, or water that was constantly being renewed by its source, was considered living water and came to be a symbol for life itself. The generous contributions of rivers or water torrents cannot be exaggerated. As they flow in their paths, they yield riches beyond imagination. They bring to the surface food of all kinds, and like a devoted mother they ask for nothing in return. In order to illustrate the tenderness the city has for those who are her children, the author of this oracle of God uses again the motherhood metaphor. She carries them; she fondles them; she comforts them. After using the motherhood metaphor to represent the city's solicitude toward its inhabitants, the prophet next uses it to characterise the tenderness God will show to those who are in Jerusalem. What is the better way to describe the self-giving nature of God other than as a nursing mother who protects and soothes and plays with her child? What would happen when Jerusalem receives such close attention? She will be transformed and the people will rejoice with their entire being, with their hearts and their bones (esem). This will be a wonderful day. The power of God will shine forth from the restored city, and the People of God will rejoice.

Paul begins and ends the second reading, Galatians 6,14-18, with reference to suffering; first to the death of Jesus, and then to the evidence on his own body of the sufferings he endured as a result of his commitment to Christ. Christ died through the ignominy of crucifixion. It was a degrading death reserved for slaves, violent criminals, and political rebels. It was not only an excruciating death, it was also a sign of ultimate defeat. Jesus died as a convicted felon, and it is in the sign of this death that Paul boasts. Paul evidently suffered greatly because of his commitment, and his body carried the marks of that suffering. Having boasted in the suffering of Christ, he then used his participation in that suffering as reason for forestalling opposition from others. Paul having been joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus, has struck a death blow to the world and its system of values; that world is now dead to him. Next he treats the question of circumcision. This was the ritual act that symbolised membership in the People of God. It separated Jew from Gentile and men from women. Here, Paul insists it really makes no difference whether one is circumcised or not. The age of fulfillment has come and brought with it a new creation. Faith in the power of the cross of Jesus is the sign of membership in the People of God. Thus, women and men from every race and ethnic origin are welcome in this community. Paul pleads for peace and mercy for all who accept this rule or principle.

The mission of the seventy-two disciples in the gospel pericope (Luke 10, 1-12.17-20) of today is symbolic of the ultimate mission to all the nations of the world (cf. Genesis 10). Jesus uses two metaphors to represent the mission: harvest, and lambs among wolves. Harvest connotes the readiness of the world for the ministry of the missionaries. This is a positive image suggesting that planting and growing have been accomplished. It only remains for the seventy-two to gather up the fruits of the work of others. Someone else had planted and watered. They were now there to harvest the yield. The second metaphor adds a sobering tone to the picture. Although the harvest is ready, harvesting itself is a dangerous occupation. The field of ministry is threatening, and the missionaries themselves are vulnerable. The directives Jesus gives accentuate this. The disciples are told to go into the world with only the bare essentials. No purse, no traveling bag, no extra sandals. They are to trust in God and depend on the hospitality of those to whom they go. Since their housing was intended merely as a support of their ministry, they were not to haggle for better accommodations, nor were they to decide the menu of the place even if there was some question about dietary purity. Finally, since two witnesses were necessary to verify any legal claim, they were to go in pairs. Besides using the metaphor of harvest to characterise the urgency of the mission, the disciples were also told to refrain from engaging in the kind of prolonged greeting that was commonplace in the ancient Near East at that time. There was no time for social niceties. Peace! would be an adequate greeting. While peace! was a typical Jewish greeting, it was more than that. It had become a synonym for messianic salvation. On the lips of a Christian it announced the presence of the age of eschatological fulfillment. Acceptance of such peace became the condition that determined the future of those to whom the disciples were sent. This peace rested on some but not on others. Those who were open to the message were blessed, but those who refused the missionaries determined their own sorry fate. The missionaries were told to shake the dust off that town from their feet. This also reflects the urgency of the time. The missionaries did not have the leisure to cajole those who were not open to the message. In a situation such as this the rejection was now mutual. At the end of the mission the seventy-two joyfully returned with stories of success. They had cured the sick and announced the advent of the reign of God. In this they had witnessed the power of God triumphant over the powers of evil, symbolised by serpents and scorpions. Jesus confirmed their appraisal of their accomplishments. Satan had indeed been cast down. This entire experience was then put into context by Jesus. As important as were the wondrous deeds they had been able to perform, more wondrous still was the fact that their names had been inscribed in the heavenly book (cf. Exod 32,32f.).

The cross, the symbol of the ignominious death of Jesus can serve as the key for interpreting the message of the readings of this Sunday. The cross of Christ is the sign that we have been called to be disciples of Jesus; it is in this sign that we have been sent; it is in this sign that we understand our mission. The cross of Jesus Christ creates all things new. It reorders our priorities; it refashions our identities; it puts us in opposition to the standards of the world. No longer do we judge success or failure as before. No longer do we separate people by gender or race or religious tradition. A new reality has been formed, with peace and mercy as its identifying characteristics. The cross is the standard of everything. It is the cross that marks the disciple.

Although the gospel story is a report of ministerial commissioning, it contains elements of discipleship in general. Most obvious is the disciples' dependence on Jesus. They are not independent missionaries. They are called by him; they are sent by him; it is to him they return and report. To be a disciple is to be a follower. A second point that should be noted is the communal dimension of discipleship. While there is certainly a personal relationship between Jesus and each disciple, discipleship itself is not a singular privilege that one hugs to oneself to the exclusion of others. Disciples minister to the needs of others, whatever those needs may be and with whatever abilities the disciple may possess. There are various kinds of healing. A friendly smile, a word of gratitude, a soothing touch, can go a long way in a world where pain and suffering seem to reign. We can teach the lessons of life in classrooms, in playrooms, in kitchens, in market places, in schools, in buses, in boardrooms. There are many ways we can cast out the demons that hold our world by the throat, demons of poverty and oppression, demons of addiction and slavery, demons of disdain and neglect, demons of hatred and violence, demons of corruption, demons of segregation, demons that make us regard the other as inferior, as an outcast, as an osu. If they are not cast out by us, then by whom? A life of discipleship is not an unmixed blessing. Because disciples are marked by the sign of the cross, they must expect suffering. The gospel speaks of rejection. Not everyone will welcome the message of the cross. Not everyone will appreciate the new creation it brings. Because they do not live according to the standards of the world, disciples will be judged as fools. Some of them will be subjected to even greater suffering. It makes one wonder who would even want to take on such a life. It seems like one is constantly going against the tide. And yet, if we are honest, we will have to admit that much of what the world promotes really goes against the grain of what is truly human. In the face of this, the disciple proclaims that true fulfillment is only found in God! In reality it is the world that is upside down, not the life of discipleship. And it is the cross that sets things right. Both the first reading and the psalm response give us a glimpse of what can happen when things are set right, when the words or life of the disciple are taken seriously. The city is renewed; the world is rejuvenated; the prosperity of God is enjoyed by all; those who suffer are comforted; the kindness of God fills the whole world. May we in the Eucharistic celebration of today, request for these graces: renewing our commitment to be disciples of Jesus, accepting wholeheartedly the cross of Christ in our lives, becoming instruments of healing of our wounded and sick world and spreading eschatological peace in our troubled world. Happy Sunday! +John I. Okoye

 graphics  by charles