Reading I
Is
66:10-14c
Thus says the LORD:
Rejoice with
all you who love her;
exult, exult with her,
all you who were mourning over her!
Oh, that you may suck fully
of the milk of her comfort,
that you may nurse with delight
at her abundant breasts!
For thus says the LORD:
Lo, I will spread prosperity over
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.
As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,
and fondled in her lap;
as a mother comforts her child,
so will I comfort you;
in
When you see this, your heart shall rejoice
and your bodies flourish like the grass;
the LORD's power shall be known to his servants.
Responsorial
Psalm
Ps 66:1-3,
4-5, 6-7, 16, 20
R. (1) Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Shout joyfully to God, all the earth,
sing praise to the glory of his name;
proclaim his glorious praise.
Say to God, "How tremendous are your deeds!"
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
"Let all on earth worship and sing praise to you,
sing praise to your name!"
Come and see the works of God,
his tremendous deeds among the children of Adam.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
He has changed the sea into dry land;
through the river they passed on foot;
therefore let us rejoice in him.
He rules by his might forever.
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Hear now, all you who fear God,
while I declare what he has done for me.
Blessed be God who refused me not
my prayer or his kindness!
R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.
Reading II
Gal
6:14-18
Brothers and sisters:
May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world.
For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision,
but only a new creation.
Peace and mercy be to all who follow this rule
and to the Israel of God.
From now on, let no one make troubles for me;
for I bear the marks of Jesus on my body.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit,
brothers and sisters. Amen.
Gospel
Lk 10:1-12,
17-20
At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
'The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.'
Yet know this: the
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for
The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said,
"Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name."
Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.
Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and scorpions
and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you.
Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you,
but rejoice because your names are written in heaven."
In the First Reading, the prophet
is singing with ecstatic joy and crying out to the people to “rejoice!” at
the new Jerusalem. God’s children must suckle at t the breast of
In the Second Reading, Paul makes clear that boasting in anything but the cross is to be vain. Instead he depends on God’s grace. He assures the faithful that he had died to any ambition or pleasure that comes from the flesh, not because of some extraordinary mystical experience, but rather by the cross of Christ, which for Paul is the culmination of God’s salvific plan. The new creation Paul speaks of is not a product of anything that can be done humanly but rather through Christ’s death and resurrection which re-creates life itself. The wounds that Paul bears (Greek: stigmata) should not necessarily be taken to mean what we associate with this word today. Although he could have rightly been what we call today a stigmatist, Paul is probably referring to his battles with illness, the physical punishments received (ie. Floggings), and other painful events in his life which he endured for the sake of Christ and marked him forever. For Paul, these marks (stigmata) are of greater glory than the mark of circumcision.
In today’s Gospel
Perhaps the greatest missionary the world will ever know, Paul makes an astounding claim: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” In other words, through the joy and suffering of his missionary work, Paul has become Christ-like. That is the key of missionary work. Anyone who brings the Gospel to others, be it in a foreign and isolated land, or to the person next door, must be Christ-like. We must become transparent so that those who look at us may see Christ through us. Being a missionary is not about words. Indeed I know many an eloquent speaker whose words mean nothing because they do not coincide with the life they live. A true missionary carries with them nothing more than Christ himself. Anything else is just excess baggage which only serves as obstacles to the mission entrusted them. It does absolutely no good to hold countless degrees or offices or titles if Christ is not first held fast in our heart and soul.
Great missionaries like Mother Teresa of
New American Bible; United States Conference of Catholic Bishops; Clifford, R. J., “Fair Spoken and Persuading”; Knight, G. A. E., “Servant Theology: Isaiah 40-55”; Seitz, C. (ed.), “Reading and Preaching the Book of Isaiah”; Watts, J., “Isaiah 34-66”; Barrett, C. K., “Freedom and Obligation: A Study of the Epistle to the Galatians”; Bruce, F. F., “The Epistle to the Galatians”; Ebeling, G., “The Truth of the Gospel: An Exposition of Galatians”; Fitzmyer, J. A., “TheGospel According to Luke”; LaVerdiere, E., “Luke”; Maddox, R., “The Purpose of Luke-Acts”; Brown, Raymond E., S.S., “Introduction to the New Testament”; Brown, Fitzmyer, and Murphy (ed.) “The New Jerome Biblical Commentary".
Deacon Lazaro J. Ulloa