14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (C) 07-04-10

Scripture Readings
First Isaiah 66:10-14c
Second Galatians 6:14-18
Gospel Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Prepared by: Fr. Allen B. Moran, O.P.

1. Subject Matter
• St. Paul’s closing lines in his letter to the Galatians highlights how through apparent
defeat (the cross of Christ) true victory has been gained and the new creation
inaugurated. The world and all its allurements and temptations has been crucified, that is
left dead and harmless, and the Apostle Paul has been “crucified to the world,” that is the
world in him has been rendered harmless. All of this is brought about by the power of the
Cross of Christ, His victory over death, and the new creation which baptism into his body
makes possible. The love of God is made comprehensible through the Cross, and from it
flowing through the Church is the only stream of true peace.
• In the sending of the seventy-two disciples, the instruction that Jesus gives for this
preaching ministry reflects his own mission. The disciple is to place great confidence in
the providence of God to supply all that he needs and to pray for more laborers to be sent
for the harvest. The message is an urgent one—the approaching of the kingdom of
God—yet there is a great respect for the freedom of each person who hears what is
proclaimed. No one is coerced into accepting what is proclaimed, and the disciples are
likely to face rejection just as Jesus did. Like Jesus, the seventy-two will cure the sick,
and in Jesus name they will have power over the enemy. Yet their greatest joy is to be
found not in this power, but in the coming of the kingdom and their relation to Jesus.

2. Exegetical Notes
• This passage in Isaiah, the universality of one religion in the future in no way detracts
from Jerusalem’s supremacy. (Penna)
• Properly speaking, man has nothing to boast about, because all that he has he receives
from God. Boasting about oneself is self-praise; boating about the cross is praise of
Jesus…The cross has changed the Christian’s relationship to the world from one of being
a slave to one of being a free “son of God”. (Ellis)
• For Paul, the crucifixion of the Messiah means that everything has been turned inside out,
not simply his own self, not simply Israel, but the entire cosmos. The world is crucified to
 me, and I to the world. He thereby locates himself on the larger map of the purposes of
God, which always stretched out through Israel to the restoration of the whole creation:
what matters is neither circumcision nor uncircumcision but new creation…The Israel of
God is nothing other than the renewed family, the Messiah and his people, and not a
subset of ethnic Judaism. (Wright)
• The warnings not to waste time on civilities (cf. 2 Kings 4:29) underlines the urgency of
the mission. (Harrington)
• The disciples’ power to cast out demons comes to them from Jesus, and it is by their faith
in him that they have succeeded. This power extends to all fields of Satan’s influence as
suggested by the mention of serpents and scorpions, which exemplify evil in nature. The
ultimate cause for joy, however, is the coming of the Kingdom of God, which signals the
impending destruction of Satan’s kingdom. (Harrington)
• The command neither to carry sandals nor to greet anyone may allude to both the Mosaic
and the Elisha traditions, where the theme of urgency appears. In Exod. 12:11 the
Israelites were commanded to eat their first Passover with their “sandals” on their feet,
and in 2 Kings 4:29 Elisha sent Gehazi on his way with this command: “If you meet
anyone, give him no greeting.” These traditions highlight the point of Jesus’ commands,
as the eschatological urgency of his ministry surpasses that of the first Passover, and the
command not to offer greetings reflects the same concerns. (Pao and Schnabel)
• The call is freely made and must be responded to in freedom. Likewise there can be no
coercion used to attract laborers, the disciples must rely and trust in the “Lord of the
harvest’s” sovereignty. (Bock)
• The mission involves risks, remaining vulnerable, and facing rejections. The restrictions
on what to take show that the disciples are to rely on God’s aid. The mission is to be
marked by prayer and dependence. (Bock)
• The greeting of peace to each household reflects the Hebrew concept of shalom (peace,
well-being). It really says, “May God be with you.” The disciple represents the presence
of God’s gracious offer. The benefits of the blessing depend on the person’s response.
(Bock)
• After proclaiming the kingdom of God and curing the sick, the response is left to the
hearers. They become culpable. The kingdom comes whether they have accepted it or
not; God’s reign is inaugurated in the promised Messiah’s coming. God’s future rule is
guaranteed. Those who reject the message of the kingdom will receive a judgment worse
than the most of the despicable of ancient Gentile cities and a symbol of unrighteousness.
The sin of the cities that reject the disciples is greater because they have come bearing a
greater revelation. Those who have rejected it have rejected something greater. (Bock)
• The disciples’ ministry, which shares in the authority of Jesus’ name, spells the defeat for
Satan, the arch-accuser from the Old Testament. The defeat of Satan and the demons is
more often associated with the cross or Christ’s return (John 12:31-32; Col. 2:14-15; Rev.
12:10-12; 20:1-3). But Luke 11:20 speaks of a current defeat. Satan’s defeat is part of a
long series of events. The disciples’ work is no small affair and is part of an increasingly
significant set of theological realities. “In the war with Satan, Jesus’ ministry is D-day.”
(Bock)
3. References to the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• CCC 846 How are we to understand the affirmation “Outside the Church there is no
salvation”, often repeated by the Church Fathers? Re-formulated positively, it means that all
salvation comes from Christ the Head through the Church which is his Body:

Basing itself on Scripture and Tradition, the Council teaches that the Church, a pilgrim
now on earth, is necessary for salvation: the one Christ is the mediator and the way of
salvation; he is present to us in his body which is the Church. He himself explicitly
asserted the necessity of faith and Baptism, and thereby affirmed at the same time the
necessity of the Church which men enter through Baptism as through a door. Hence
they could not be saved who, knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as
necessary by God through Christ, would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it.
(Lumen Gentium 14; cf. Mk 16:16; Jn. 3:5)

• CCC 851 Missionary motivation. It is from God's love for all men that the Church in every age
receives both the obligation and the vigor of her missionary dynamism, "for the love of Christ
urges us on." (2 Cor. 5:14) Indeed, God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the
knowledge of the truth";(1 Tim 2:4) that is, God wills the salvation of everyone through the
knowledge of the truth. Salvation is found in the truth. Those who obey the prompting of the
Spirit of truth are already on the way of salvation. But the Church, to whom this truth has
been entrusted, must go out to meet their desire, so as to bring them the truth. Because she
believes in God's universal plan of salvation, the Church must be missionary.

• CCC 852 Missionary paths. the Holy Spirit is the protagonist, "the principal agent of the
whole of the Church's mission."(JPII, Redemptoris Missio) It is he who leads the Church on
her missionary paths. "This mission continues and, in the course of history, unfolds the
mission of Christ, who was sent to evangelize the poor; so the Church, urged on by the Spirit
of Christ, must walk the road Christ himself walked, a way of poverty and obedience, of
service and self-sacrifice even to death, a death from which he emerged victorious by his
resurrection." (Ad Gentes 5) So it is that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians."
(Tertullian, Apol. 50, 13).

• CCC 853 On her pilgrimage, the Church has also experienced the "discrepancy existing
between the message she proclaims and the human weakness of those to whom the Gospel
has been entrusted." (Gaudium et Spes 43) Only by taking the "way of penance and
renewal," the "narrow way of the cross," can the People of God extend Christ's reign. (Lumen
Gentium 8; 15; Ad Gentes 1) For "just as Christ carried out the work of redemption in poverty
and oppression, so the Church is called to follow the same path if she is to communicate the
fruits of salvation to men."(Lumen Gentium 8).

• CCC 2611 The prayer of faith consists not only in saying "Lord, Lord," but in disposing the
heart to do the will of the Father (Cf. Mt. 7:21). Jesus calls his disciples to bring into their
prayer this concern for cooperating with the divine plan. (Cf. Mt 9:38; Lk 10:2; Jn 4:34).
4. Patristic Commentary
• “And what is the boast of the Cross? That Christ for my sake took on Him the form of a
slave, and bore His sufferings for me, the slave, the enemy, the unfeeling one; He even so
loved me as to give Himself up to a curse for me. What can be comparable to this! …Let us
then not be ashamed of His unspeakable tenderness; He was not ashamed of being crucified
for your sake, and will you be ashamed to confess His infinite solicitude?” (St. John
Chrysostom)
• “What he [St. Paul] calls the world is not heaven nor earth, but the affairs of life, the praise of
men, retinues, glory, wealth, and all such things as have a show of splendour. To me these
things are dead…Nor was he content with the former putting to death, but added another,
saying, ‘and I to the world,’ in this way implying a double putting to death, and saying, They
are dead to me, and I to them, neither can they captivate and overcome me.” (St. John
Chrysostom)
• “In Christ crucified. Where lowliness was is majesty, where weakness was is power, where
death was is life. If you want to reach these latter do not despise the former. To glory in
Christ’s wisdom is no great thing; to glory in Christ’s cross is a great thing.” (St. Augustine)
• “Let us too glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been
crucified to us, and we to the world. That we may not be ashamed of this cross, we have
marked it on our very foreheads, that is, on the place we show shame.” (St. Augustine)
• “As to miracles, they oftentimes, while they profited another, have injured the one who had
the power, by lifting him up to pride and vainglory, or maybe in some other way…These then
let us perform with much diligence. For if you change from inhumanity to almsgiving, you
have stretched forth the hand that was withered. If you withdraw from theatres and go to the
church, you have cured the lame foot. If you draw back your eyes from a harlot, and from
beauty not your own, you have opened them when they were blind. If instead of satanical
songs, you have learned spiritual psalms, being dumb, you have spoken. These are the
greatest miracles, these are the wonderful sings.” (St. John Chrysostom)
• “The harvest is rich but the laborers are few; ask the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into
his harvest. This harvest is the people to whom the prophets preached, sowing the seed so
that the apostles might gather in the sheaves. For the seed to sprout it was sufficient for the
prophets to sow, but the ripe grain had to wait for the apostles’ sickle.” (St. Augustine)
• “He sends the disciples to preach two and two, because there are two commands of charity:
the love of God, and love of neighbor; (and charity cannot exist without at least two) thereby
silently suggesting to us, that he who has not love to another, ought not to undertake the
office of preaching.” (St. Gregory the Great)
• “Behold the world is full of priests, but seldom is there found a laborer in God’s harvest,
because we undertake indeed the priestly office, but we perform not its works…Hereby the
people must be induced to pray for their pastors, that they may be able to work what is good
for them, and that their tongue grow not lifeless in exhortation.” (St. Gregory the Great)
5. Examples from the Saints and Other Exemplars
• What, then, am I asking for? Men who are free, priests who are free with the freedom that
comes from you, detached from everything, without father, mother, brothers, sisters or
relatives and friends as the world and the flesh understand them, without worldly
 possessions to encumber or distract them, and devoid of all self-interest. Men who are free
but still in bondage to your love and your will; men after your own heart who, without taint or
impediment of self-love, will carry out your will to the full and, like David of old, lay low all
your enemies, with the Cross for their staff and the Rosary for their sling. (from St. Louis de
Monfort’s Prayer for Missionaries)

6. Quotes

• “Everywhere on our globe, religions and doctrines of salvation are proceeding upon their
missions: Christian groups and churches, Islam, the Asiatic religions, and even ideologies (let
us recall how Communism intended to conquer the world) and philosophies of life. But how
is ‘mission’ being undertaken by all these forces? By compulsion, oppression, and power?
Or with a great respect for people’s consciences and for each individual’s freedom? Jesus
gave his missionaries clear instructions—not to be like ravening wolves but the very
opposite: I send you out as a lambs in the midst of wolves. Year after year, all over the
world, missionaries are killed simply because they stand up for the poor and people with no
rights or because they are bringing the Gospel into people’s midst.” (Schönborn)

7. Other Considerations
• “The first words of the seventy-two—‘Peace…’—echo the words of the host of angels to the
shepherds (Lk 2;14), Christ’s Words to the sinful woman (Lk 7:50), the Lord’s Words to the
woman with the hemorrhage (Lk 8:48), and the Words of the risen Christ to the Eleven (Lk
24:36). In this way, the greeting of the seventy-two hearalds the offer of redemption,
forgiveness, healing, and divine friendship. Their salutation is somewhat sacramental in
effect as it represents the saving presence of Christ.” (Cameron)
• In the Gospel’s great commissioning speech Jesus sends his disciples out “like sheep among
the wolves”. If one permits the image to sink in, it is frightful. Humanly considered such a
commission is irresponsible. Jesus dares to do it only because the Father has sent him as
the “lamb” among men who act like wolves toward him, so that he can win the victory of the
“lamb that was slain”, a victory that makes him worthy and able to break all the seals of world
history (Rev. 5). (von Balthazar)
• His only weapon is his mission which, as long as it lasted, protected him from his enemies’
attacks even if occasionally he could escape them only by taking flight…His disarmed “few
workers” were sent to proclaim the imminence of the Kingdom both to those ready to receive
it and to those who resisted, so that the people could take appropriate account of how little
time was left. His disciples were not to rejoice or despair over success or lack of it…True
success remains with the Lord who hands out assignments, the One who by his Cross “has
triumphed”…Those he commissions will find in him—not in themselves—the “authority” “to
overcome all the power of the enemy.” (von Balthazar)

Recommended Resources
Bede the Venerable, Excerpts from the Works of Saint Augustine on the Letters of the Blessed
Apostle Paul. David Hurst, OSB, trans., Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1999.
Bock, Darrell L. Luke 1:1-9:50. Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament. Grand
Rapids: Baker Books, 1994.
Camerson, O.P., Peter John. To Praise, to Bless, and to Preach: Spiritual Reflections on the
Sunday Gospels, Cycle C. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor Press, 2000.
Ellis, Peter F. Seven Pauline Letters. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1982.
Friends of Henry Ashworth, eds. Christ Our Light: Readings on Gospel Themes. Vol. II. Ambler,
PA: Exordium Books, 1985.
Harrington, O.P., W.J. “St. Luke” in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Reginald
Fuller, Leonard Johnston, Conleth Kearns, O.P. eds. Nashville: Nelson, 1975.
Manley, Johanna ed., The Bible and the Holy Fathers for Orthodox: Daily Scripture Readings
and Commentary for Orthodox Christians. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1990.
Pao, David W. and Eckhard J. Schnabel. “Luke” in Commentary on the New Testament Use of
the Old Testament. G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, eds. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2007.
Penna, A. “Isaiah” in A New Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Reginald Fuller, Leonard
Johnston, Conleth Kearns, O.P. eds. Nashville: Nelson, 1975.
Schönborn, Christoph Cardinal. Jesus, the Divine Physician: Encountering Christ in the Gospel
of Luke. San Franscisco: Ignatius Press, 2008.
Von Balthazar, Hans Urns. Light of the Word. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1993.
Wright, N.T., Paul: In Fresh Perspective. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2005.