Reading 1 Is 66:10-14c

Thus says the LORD:
Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her,
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 Jerusalem like a river,
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 Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.

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 2 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.

Alleluia Col 3:15a, 16a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Let the peace of Christ control your hearts;
let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

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 kingdom of God is at hand for you.'
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 kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town."

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."

Or Lk 10:1-9

Isaiah 66:10-14

The new nation

[10] “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
[11] that you may suck and be satisfied
with her consoling breasts;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from the abundance of her glory.”

[12] For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will extend prosperity to her like a river,
and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall suck, you shall be carried upon her hip,
and dandled upon her knees.
[13] As one whom his mother comforts,
so I will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
[14] You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice;
your bones shall flourish like the grass;
and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants,
and his indignation is against his enemies.

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Commentary:

7-14. This last poem about the exaltation of Zion is built around the metaphor of
motherhood. The opening verses (7-9) are a reflection full of rhetorical questions
about the eschatological city that gives birth to an entire people in a spectacular,
miraculous way. She is the new Eve, the mother of all the living (cf. Gen 2:23),
who gives birth painlessly. This Zion, a thing of wonder, easy for God to create
but impossible for men even to conceive, has been interpreted as a symbol of
the Church who bears in her womb and gives birth to the members of the new
people of God – and a symbol, too, of the Blessed Virgin Mary, who gave birth,
without the loss of her virginity, to Jesus (cf. Rev 12:5). The end of the poem (vv.
10-14) also uses the analogy of Zion as a mother, although at one point, very
boldly, it depicts God as comforting his people like a mother giving suck to her
children (v. 11). As we have seen, the second part of Isaiah is where the attri-
butes of a mother are most often applied to God (cf. 42:14; 45:10; 49:15). “By
calling God ‘Father’, the language of faith indicates two main things: that God
is the first origin of everything and transcendent authority; and that he is at the
same time goodness and loving care for all his children. God’s parental tender-
ness can also be expressed by the image of motherhood (cf. Is 66:13; Ps 131:
2), which emphasizes God’s immanence, the intimacy between Creator and
creature. The language of faith thus draws on the human experience of parents,
who are in a way the first representatives of God for man. But this experience
also tells us that human parents are fallible and can disfigure the face of father-
hood and motherhood. We ought therefore to recall that God transcends the hu-
man distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he is God.
He also transcends human fatherhood and motherhood (cf. Ps 27:10), although
he is their origin and standard (cf. Eph 3:14; Is 49:15)” (Catechism of the Catho-
lic Church, 239).

*********************************************************************************************
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.

From: Galatians 6:14-18

Conclusion

[14] But far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. [15] For neither
circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. [16]
Peace and mercy be upon all who walk by this rule, upon the Israel of God.

[17] Henceforth let no man trouble me; for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.

[18] The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen.

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

14. Those who had been circumcised—both Gentiles and Jews—used to boast a-
bout bearing on their body the sign of the Old Covenant, circumcision. St. Paul
points out to them that to his mind there is only one ground for boasting—the
Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the New Covenant has been sealed
and the Redemption brought about and which therefore has come to be the sign
of the Christian. This was the core of his preaching—the power and the wisdom
of God (cf. 1 Cor. 1:23-24). The Apostle’s assertion has been echoed by Chris-
tians down the ages and has inspired pages of singular piety. For example, here
is something from an Easter homily (preacher unknown) of the second century:
“When I am overtaken by fear of God, the Cross is my protection; when I stum-
ble, it is my help and my support; when I engage in combat, my prize; when I
conquer, my crown. The Cross is for me a narrow path, a narrow way—Jacob’s
ladder, which angels ascend and descend, at the top of which the Lord is to be
found.”

From the Holy Cross our salvation comes, for it was here that Jesus died for our
sins. St. John Chrysostom, therefore, praises it: “The Cross is the sign of victory
displayed to fend off demons, the sword to use against sin, the sword with which
Christ ran the serpent through; the Cross is the will of the Father, the glory of his
Only Son, the joy of the Holy Spirit, the ornament of the angels, the assurance
of the Church; it is what Paul glories in, it protects the saints and lights up the
whole universe (”De Coemeterio Et De Cruce”, 2).

For his part St. Anselm is so moved that he exclaims: “O Cross, chosen and
designed to do such ineffable good: you are praised and exalted not so much by
the minds and tongues of men, or even angels, as by the works that been done
thanks to you. O Cross, in whom and by whom salvation and life have come to
me, in whom and by whom all good things come to me: God would not have me
glory unless it be in you (cf. Gal. 6:14)” (”Prayers and Meditations”, 4).

In the Cross, therefore, every Christian should be able to find support and strength
for his daily life: “When you see a poor wooden Cross, alone, uncared for, and of
no value...and without its Crucified, don’t forget that that Cross is your Cross: the
Cross of each day, the hidden Cross, without splendor or consolation, the Cross
which is waiting the Crucified it lacks: and that Crucified must be you” (St. J. Es-
criva, “The Way”, 178).

15. The expression “new creation” is full of theological content. It points to the
fact that supernatural grace operates at a much higher level than any mere hu-
man action: just as God in creating the world made everything out of nothing, so
too grace is granted without there being any previous merits. The phrase also in-
dicates that, in regard to salvation, the only thing which matters as far as God is
concerned is grace: just as things exist because they have been created, so
man exists on the supernatural plane because he has been “created again”. Fi-
nally, “new creation” gives us a glimpse into the mystery of grace: thus when
we were originally created we were given existence, and a nature, and certain fa-
culties: in a similar way, on being created anew we are made to share in God’s
nature, we are given a new nature (super-nature) and a whole supernatural biolo-
gy (the infused virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit).

The nature which God gave man through creation was damaged by the sin of
Adam, become thereby an “old creation”, the old man. Our new life or new crea-
tion is in brilliant contrast which the dark background of sin and death caused by
that original fall. “We have been created,” St. Thomas comments, “and we have
received our natural being through Adam; but that creature grew old, and died,
and therefore the Lord, by constituting us in the state of grace, worked a new
creation, ‘that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures’ (Jas. 1:18). And
he adds ‘new’ because we are renewed by him, given a new life; and by the Holy
Spirit also. ‘When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created, and thou renew-
est the face of the earth’ (Ps. 104:30); and by the Cross of Christ [...]. Thus, by
means of the new creation, that is, through faith in Christ and through the love of
God, which has been poured into our hearts, we are renewed and we are united
to Christ” (”Commentary on Gal., ad loc.”).

We find this parallelism between creation and the new creation (re-creation) in a
number of places in the New Testament. The new life which is attained through
union with Christ is called a “new creation” (cf. 2 Cor. 5:17). This new creation
is the new man, who is born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will
of man, but of God (cf. Jn. 1:12-13), man raised up to the supernatural state of
grace, created in Christ (cf. Eph. 2:10, 15) for a life of righteousness and holi-
ness (cf. Roman 6:4; Col. 3:9-10), man, God’s adoptive son and heir (cf. Rom.
8:16), in whom Christ’s own life is definitively manifested (cf. Gal. 2:20).

17. A reference to the sign or brand put on livestock to show which herd it be-
longs to. In ancient times slaves were also branded—to show which family they
belonged to—as were the adherents of some religions. St. Paul alludes to these
customs by declaring that he is metaphorically a servant of Christ.

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

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 there-
fore 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 King-
dom 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 tolerable on that
day for Sodom than for that town.”

The Seventy Return From Their Mission

[17] The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject
to us in Your name!” [18] And He (Jesus) said to them, “I saw Satan fall like light-
ning from Heaven. [19] Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents
and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you.
[20] Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but
rejoice that your names are written in Heaven.”

*********************************************************************************************
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 Cleopas 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 special assign-
ment. Of them, as of the Apostles (cf. Luke 9:1-5), He demands 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 ap-
peal in the Lord to give a willing, noble and enthusiastic 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 generation should feel this call to be addressed
in a special way to themselves; 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 apos-
tolate 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 confidence and to ensure that we are not afraid
of our assailants” (”Hom. on St. Matthew”, 33). The Apostles’ and disciples’ bold-
ness 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 prea-
cher 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 provi-
ding 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 sa-
ying, ‘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 passerby he met. Therefore, there
is no question of omitting good manners to greet others; it is a matter of remo-
ving 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 per-
son 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 recommendation to His di-
sciples to proclaim peace should be a constant feature of all the apostolic ac-
tion 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 gree-
tings: 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 apos-
tle. But He was aware of His disciples’ material needs and therefore stated the
principle that apostolic ministry deserves its recompense. Vatican II reminds us
that we all have an obligation to contribute to the sustenance of those who ge-
nerously 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 entitled to receive a just remuneration. For ‘the laborer deserves his
wages’ (Luke 10:7), and ‘the Lord commanded that they who proclaim the Gos-
pel should get their living by the Gospel’ (1 Corinthians 9:14). For this reason, in-
sofar 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 neces-
sary provision for a decent and fitting livelihood for the priests are available” (Va-
tican II, “Presbyterorum Ordinis”, 20).

20. Our Lord corrects His disciples, making them see that the right reason for re-
joicing lies in hope of reaching Heaven, not in the power to do miracles which He
gave them for their mission. As He said on another occasion, “On that day many
will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and cast our de-
mons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then will I
declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:
22-23). In other words, in the eyes of God doing His holy will at all times is more
important than working miracles.

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

Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible by Darton, Longman & Todd

Readings at Mass

Liturgical Colour: Green.

First reading	Isaiah 66:10-14 ©

Rejoice, Jerusalem,

be glad for her, all you who love her!

Rejoice, rejoice for her,

all you who mourned her!

That you may be suckled, filled,

from her consoling breast,

that you may savour with delight

her glorious breasts.

For thus says the Lord:

Now towards her I send flowing

peace, like a river,

and like a stream in spate

the glory of the nations.

At her breast will her nurslings be carried

and fondled in her lap.

Like a son comforted by his mother

will I comfort you.

And by Jerusalem you will be comforted.

At the sight your heart will rejoice,

and your bones flourish like the grass.

To his servants the Lord will reveal his hand.

Responsorial Psalm
Psalm 65:1-7,16,20 ©