From: Luke 10:1-12

The Mission of the Seventy Disciples

[1] After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on
ahead of Him, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself
was about to come. [2] And He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful,
but the laborers are few; pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send
out laborers into His harvest. [3] Go your way; behold, I send you out
as lambs in the midst of wolves. [4] Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals;
and salute no one on the road. [5] Whatever house you enter, first say,
`Peace be to this house!’ [6] And if a son of peace is there, your peace
shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you. [7] And remain in
the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer
deserves his wages; do not go from house to house. [8] Whenever you
enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you; [9] heal
the sick in it and say to them, “The Kingdom of God has come near to
you.’ [10] But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you,
go into its streets and say, [11] `Even the dust of your town that clings
to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the
Kingdom of God has come near.’ [12] I tell you, it shall be more tole-
rable on that day for Sodom than for that town.”

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Commentary:

1-12. Those who followed our Lord and received a calling from Him (cf.
Luke 9:57-62) included many other disciples in addition to the Twelve (cf.
Mark 2:15). We do not know who most of them were; but undoubtedly
some of them were with Him all along, from when Jesus was baptized
by John up to the time of His ascension—for example, Joseph called
Barrabas, and Matthias (cf. Acts 1:21-26). We can also include Cleo-
pas and his companion, whom the risen Christ appeared to on the road
to Emmaus (cf. Luke 24:13-35).

From among these disciples, our Lord chooses seventy-two for a spe-
cial assignment. Of them, as of the Apostles (cf. Luke 9:1-5), He de-
mands total detachment and complete abandonment to divine providence.

From Baptism onwards every Christian is called by Christ to perform a
mission. Therefore, the Church, in our Lord’s name, “makes to all the
laity an earnest appeal in the Lord to give a willing, noble and enthusia-
stic response to the voice of Christ, who at this hour is summoning them
more pressingly, and to the urging of the Holy Spirit. The younger gene-
ration should feel this call to be addressed in a special way to them-
selves; they should welcome it eagerly and generously. It is the Lord
Himself, by this Council, who is once more inviting all the laity to unite
themselves to Him ever more intimately, to consider His interests as
their own (cf. Philippians 2:5), and to join in His mission as Savior. It
is the Lord who is again sending them into every town and every place
where He Himself is to come (cf. Luke 10:1). He sends them on the
Church’s apostolate, an apostolate that is one yet has different forms
and methods, an apostolate that must all the time be adapting itself
to the needs of the moment; He sends them on an apostolate where
they are to show themselves His cooperators, doing their full share
continually in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord their labor
cannot be lost (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:58)” (Vatican II, “Apostolicam
Actuositatem”, 33).

3-4. Christ wants to instill apostolic daring into His disciples; this is
why He says, “I send you out”, which leads St. John Chrysostom to
comment: “This suffices to give us encouragement, to give us confi-
dence and to ensure that we are not afraid of our assailants” (”Hom.
on St. Matthew”, 33). The Apostles’ and disciples’ boldness stemmed
from their firm conviction that they were on a God-given mission: they
acted, as Peter the Apostle confidently explained to the Sanhedrin, in
the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, “for there is no other name under
heaven by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

“And the Lord goes on,” St. Gregory the Great adds, “Carry no purse,
no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road.’ Such should be
the confidence the preacher places in God that even if he is not provided
with the necessities of life, he is convinced that they will come his way.
This will ensure that worry about providing temporal things for himself
does not distract him from providing others with eternal things” (”In
Evangelia Homiliae”, 17). Apostolate calls for generous self-surrender
which leads to detachment; therefore, Peter, following our Lord’s com-
mandment, when the beggar at the Beautiful Gate asked him for alms
(Acts 3:2-3), said, “I have no silver or gold” (”ibid.”, 3:6), “not so as to
glory in his poverty”, St. Ambrose points out, “but to obey the Lord’s
command. It is as if he were saying, `You see in me a disciple of
Christ, and you ask me for gold? He gave us something much more
valuable than gold, the power to act in His name. I do not have what
Christ did not give me, but I do have what He did give me: In the name
of Jesus Christ, arise and walk’ (cf. Acts 3:6)” (”Expositio Evangelii
Sec. Lucam, in loc”.). Apostolate, therefore, demands detachment
from material things and it also requires us to be always available,
for there is an urgency about apostolic work.

“And salute no one on the road”: “How can it be”, St. Ambrose asks
himself, “that the Lord wishes to get rid of a custom so full of kindness?
Notice, however, that He does not just say, `Do not salute anyone’, but
adds, `on the road.’ And there is a reason for this.

“He also commanded Elisha not to salute anyone he met, when He sent
him to lay his staff on the body of the dead child (2 Kings 4:29): He gave
him this order so as to get him to do this task without delay and effect
the raising of the child, and not waste time by stopping to talk to any
passer-by he met. Therefore, there is no question of omitting good man-
ners to greet others; it is a matter of removing a possible obstacle in the
way of service; when God commands, human considerations should be
set aside, at least for the time being. To greet a person is a good thing,
but it is better to carry out a divine instruction which could easily be
frustrated by a delay (”ibid.”).

6. Everyone is “a son of peace” who is disposed to accept the teaching
of the Gospel which brings with it God’s peace. Our Lord’s recommen-
dation to His disciples to proclaim peace should be a constant feature
of all the apostolic action of Christians: “Christian apostolate is not a
political program or a cultural alternative. It implies the spreading of
good, `infecting’ others with a desire to love, sowing peace and joy”
([St] J. Escriva, “Christ Is Passing By”, 124).

Feeling peace in our soul and in our surroundings is an unmistakable
sign that God is with us, and a fruit of the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians
5:22): “Get rid of these scruples that deprive you of peace. What
takes away your peace of soul cannot come from God. When God
comes to you, you will feel the truth of those greetings: My peace I
give to you..., peace I leave you..., peace be with you..., and you will
feel it even in the midst of troubles” ([ST] J. Escriva, “The Way”, 258).

7. Our Lord clearly considered poverty and detachment a key feature
in an apostle. But He was aware of His disciples’ material needs and
therefore stated the principle that apostolic ministry deserves its recom-
pense. Vatican II reminds us that we all have an obligation to contribute
to the sustenance of those who generously devote themselves to the
service of the Church: “Completely devoted as they are to the service
of God in the fulfillment of the office entrusted to them, priests are en-
titled to receive a just remuneration. For `the laborer deserves his
wages’ (Luke 10:7), and `the Lord commanded that they who proclaim
the Gospel should get their living by the Gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:14).
For this reason, insofar as provision is not made from some other
source for the just remuneration of priests, the faithful are bound by
a real obligation of seeing to it that the necessary provision for a
decent and fitting livelihood for the priests are available” (Vatican II,
“Presbyterorum Ordinis”, 20).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

Nehemiah 8:1-12 ©

When the seventh month came, all the people gathered as one man on the square before the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses which the Lord had prescribed for Israel. Accordingly Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, consisting of men, women, and children old enough to understand. This was the first day of the seventh month. On the square before the Water Gate, in the presence of the men and women, and children old enough to understand, he read from the book from early morning till noon; all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law.

Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden dais erected for the purpose; beside him stood, on his right, Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah and Maaseiah; on his left, Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam. In full view of all the people – since he stood higher than all the people – Ezra opened the book; and when he opened it all the people stood up. Then Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people raised their hands and answered, ‘Amen! Amen!’; then they bowed down and, face to the ground, prostrated themselves before the Lord. (Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabab, Hanan, Pelaiah, who were Levites, explained the Law to the people while the people remained standing.) And Ezra read from the Law of God, translating and giving the sense, so that the people understood what was read.

Then (Nehemiah – His Excellency – and) Ezra, priest and scribe (and the Levites who were instructing the people) said to all the people, ‘This day is sacred to the Lord your God. Do not be mournful, do not weep.’ For the people were all in tears as they listened to the words of the Law.

He then said, ‘Go, eat the fat, drink the sweet wine, and send a portion to the man who has nothing prepared ready. For this day is sacred to our Lord. Do not be sad: the joy of the Lord is your stronghold.’ And the Levites calmed all the people, saying, ‘Be at ease; this is a sacred day. Do not be sad.’ And all the people went off to eat and drink and give shares away and begin to enjoy themselves since they had understood the meaning of what had been proclaimed to them.

Psalm

Psalm 18:8-11 ©