FOURTEENTH SUNDAY OF YEAR "C"

Fourteenth Sunday of the Year   "C"

Wider Ministry
One night a certain church suddenly caught fire, and the flames were about to engulf a beautiful painting of Christ. Noticing the danger, two young men rushed inside and rescued the picture. People of the neighbourhood came out of their houses to watch the blaze being put out; but they didn’t seem to want to go back home. They, rather, crowded around the painting of Christ, looking at it and admiring it. The church leaders were amazed because people had never before been interested in the painting. Finally, one man explained, “When the church caught fire and moved Christ into the streets where people could see him, then they were interested.” Today’s Gospel shows us how the disciples take Jesus out their small circle into the wider world. Listen to
Jesus’ famous advice, “Carry no purse, no backpacks, no sandals.” We might like to think that Jesus was endorsing the value of poverty for his missionaries. While that is true, that kind of poverty included being dependent on the people to whom they are sent. The people were expected to provide for the needs of the missionaries. “The labourer deserves his wages, according to Jesus. Jesus certainly ought to know since he was a carpenter himself and could have been had by crooked customers who didn’t pay him for what he made or mended. I hope it wasn’t too often.
If you love the work you do, you are going to put all yourself into it, giving freely of energy and your talents. On the other hand, if you’re there only for the pay packet only to do what you believe you’re paid to do and no more, chances are you’ll grow to despise your job. Merely putting your time into something doesn’t mean you’re putting yourself into it. Rather, dedicate your attention, your interest, your love, your creativity, and you can transform an undesirable condition into something that gives back to you in good measure. This is a law of life. Think less about what you might get and more about what you can give and your life will surely take on lustre you never dreamed of possible.
Our Lord Jesus is asking his priests and missionaries to be generous in their service, and lay people to be hearty in their support, not only materially but also with prayer and encouragement, bearing in mind that every Catholic is a missionary in their circumstances.
There is only Holy Spirit who, through the sacrament of Baptism, confers on us the office of ministry. It was the same Spirit who came on Jesus at his baptism, confirmed him, drove him into the wilderness and then sent him forth in the service of reconcilement and healing. Will the Holy Spirit do any different with us who form one body with Christ? The service of healing and reconcilement is given to all of us. We are indeed commissioned people, mandated by the same Spirit for the same ministry, though understandably with different nuances and levels dictated by our state of life. For example, the two social sacraments are marriage and priesthood, and both have the same ultimate aim, namely, to unite humanity to God. People need spiritual development and emotional sustenance. They expect the people of God to reach out and make them feel that they’re there and that they care. And the sufferers too are ready to reach out and help people themselves. “It’s the poor what helps the poor,” is a line from an old Irish playlet. A sort of mutual life support system.
 The Government can give the money, but only people can help people to face life. For instance, the AIDS patient is not a statistic, and the disease need not be labelled as a death sentence. St. Francis of Assisi, we are told, kissed the hand of a leper. Yet it was not Francis who healed the leper, but the leper who healed Francis! Healed him from his social prejudice and from keeping a clinical distance from isolated people. Francis of Assisi became a friar, not to hide within the walls of the monastery, but to be with the people. The prophets ascended the mountain to hear God’s word, there in the cloud - symbol of the divine presence. But they had to descend from the heights and go to the people, even if the people did not listen, even persecuted them. That is how the Gospel is preached: not from a position of power to the weak, but from a position of weakness to the powerful. We preach the Good News to those who are capable of crucifying us.
What we call “an explosion of ministry” is a worldwide phenomenon, affecting countries and churches differently. The renewal of the local church, priesthood, episcopacy, life in vows initiated by Vatican II led to the practical consequence of men and women shifting from one ministry to another. In truth, on account of a greater consciousness of personal freedom, Christians (including Catholics) are transferring their loyalties from one denomination to another. New ministries, e.g. health care, adult religious education, workers movements, prisons, permeating the civil services and government, and many others, have become new paths to ministry, along with that of priest, deacon and sister. As a result of these developments within and outside the churches, thousands of Christians have entered the ministry.
God raises men and women whose entire lives are dedicated to the service of others, and not only as parochial standard-bearers but as social workers, teachers, preachers, hospice workers – wherever there are human needs and struggles.
What caused this explosion of ministry? Both society and church in our times led the ministry to seek out new activities and therein a new theology. The world is growing. The number of people living on this planet expands rapidly. At the same time, people are not content merely to subsist in a changeless life punctuated with moments of contentment, but they search for a fuller life. Quality in Christian life, as well as increase in population, and a search for freedom are forces that have led Christians to expect wider ministries in their churches.
The Triune God is personal. He gives himself and loves us personally, and we surrender ourselves to the Three Persons personally.

Prayer: (Robert Hilman, one time Anglican bishop of Calcutta, 1816 – 1876). 
Blessed Jesus, Lord of the harvest, send forth, we beseech thee, labourers into thy harvest, and by thy Holy Spirit, stir the heart of many, that they may be ready to spend and be spent in thy service, and if it please thee, so to lose their life in this world, that they may gather fruit unto life eternal. Lord Jesus, lover of souls. Amen.
Lord, you send us out as your messengers, relying on nothing but our faith in you. Fill us with the wisdom and courage to bring the Gospel to others, so that evil may be defeated and your kingdom may come. Amen

HOMILY 2:
When things go well, and we view the world through rose tinted lenses we can forget our problems and lie down on our bed of roses. But for most of us most of the time the roses have plenty of thorns. The feel-good factor does not last in work or relationships any more than in economics. Most of us cope with a mixture of joy and sadness that is part and parcel of our life. At first glance today's readings look like a Biblical feel-good factor stretching from prophet Isaiah to St. Luke. Joy is a prominent theme. The prophet Isaiah invites all those who love Jerusalem to rejoice for her. The psalmist cries out with joy, and the 72 disciples come back rejoicing  and declaring that even the devils submitted when they used the Lord's name. However, a deeper look wakes us up to reality. The earthly Jerusalem, now as then, is not usually a place for happiness and peace. In the 2nd. reading St. Paul reminds the Galatians that the only thing he can boast about is the Cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ. In today's Gospel, when Jesus sends his disciples out like lambs among wolves, he warns them that when they preach the good news they will not always be welcome. So what has become of the joy? Jesus makes clear that their real joy is in the fact that their names are written in heaven.
A certain Nigerian evangelist, a Protestant preacher was recently heard giving an interview on TV. He was making tall claims. For instance, he claimed to have the power to produce financial success for himself and his followers. He has become very rich; and he told his interviewer that it was a sign of God's approval of his work. Not surprisingly, he has many disciples!
Now this is in sharp contrast to today's Gospel where Jesus tells his 72 disciples to travel light, eat what they're offered, and make a hasty exit if their message is not welcome.
Let me tell you something about St. Francis of Assisi, the 13th. century mendicant preacher.
You perhaps know that he refused to follow his prosperous father, Don Bernadone, in his cloth business. In fact, in a public confrontation at which the local bishop and the townspeople were also present he removed all his clothes and walked away stark. Francis refused to touch money. He slept rough, begged his food, and preached the Good News by word and example. He once explained to Bro Leo, his faithful companion, the meaning of perfect joy. Francis said if the Brothers possessed all knowledge, could preach so as to convert all infidels, and could speak with the voice of angels, this was not perfect joy. Rather, he said, true joy lies in conquering oneself and willingly enduring sufferings, humiliations, hardships and rejection for the love of Christ. Francis was probably a young man then, full of youthful idealism. But, as with ourselves, age and experience brought different perspectives on things like success, material possessions and happiness. The number of his followers increased and he gradually realised that a literal following of Christ was impossible; and this caused him great sadness. Towards the end of his life, Francis saw his Brothers owning houses, expensive books and precious objects. So he experienced a different kind of poverty, namely, he was losing control over the brotherhood that he had founded. He could not realise his dream of following Christ in the way that he wanted. Instead, he felt something of the desolation of Jesus in Gethsemane   - rejected, misunderstood, ignored, irrelevant. The sadness and depression he now felt was in sharp contrast to his earlier enthusiasm. It was easier to live in abject material poverty while he was in control, attracting followers and being appreciated. From now till his death the picture was quite different. And Francis rejoiced! He sang and danced as his pain increased. He remembered what Jesus said in today's Gospel: "Rejoice, rather, that your names are written in heaven."
We are called to discipleship, to preach the Good News through the unique circumstances of our lives. Not all are called to the material poverty proposed in today's Gospel. Yet most of us will, at some time, share the Gethsemane experience of Christ: being left, alone, misunderstanding and failure for which we may feel ill prepared. Joy comes in acceptance of our circumstances in union with Christ who has been there before us. It may be a long struggle. Saints do not come ready-made.

Prayer: Lord Jesus Christ, you send us out as your messengers, relying on nothing but our faith in you. Fill us with the wisdom and courage to bring the gospel to others, so that evil may be defeated and your kingdom may come. Let us rejoice that you have written our names on the doorsteps of heaven where you live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.