Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
July 6, 2025
Today begins the 50th NAIDOC WEEK
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We acknowledge all First Peoples of the beautiful lands on which we live and celebrate their enduring knowledge and connections to Country. We honour the wisdom of and pay respect to Elders past and present.
Isaiah 66:10-14
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.
From Psalm 66
R. 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!"
"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.
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.
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!
Galatians 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.
From Luke 10
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."
I would like what I write here today to reflect, at least in some small way, something of the meditation that dominates my consciousness this week in preparation for Sunday's celebration. Unlike last week's feast, as Cathy pointed out, this is an Ordinary Sunday but it's none the less our celebration of God's love.
Speaking of love, we open on a marvelous sketch of God's love as like a mother's love as she nourishes her child at her breast, enfolding the child in her arms.
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!
And again:
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.
For Jerusalem we might like to substitute God's "Assembly". The first book of Isaiah is fiercely critical of the powerful of Jerusalem for stealing from the vulnerable and worshiping gods they had made for themselves - money and power. But there is a Second Book of Isaiah (and a Third). Today's reading is from the last chapter of the second book which was the work of other prophets and dates a century later. Because it contains so much that is designed to give strength to the people by comforting them, it is often called the Book of Consolation.
The question arises: Do I feel this warm comfort in the arms of Mother Church? I wonder whether I should expect to? I believe I should for the message of the Book of Consolation is that the Lord will comfort his people because he loves them with all the tender love of a parent! It is for us, the, to learn to trust our mother as she holds us close, nourishing us from her breasts and playing with us on her knee.(Many translations have "dandling on her knee" which is what we love to do with babies, playfully.)
*****
The selection from Paul's letter to the Galatians cuts cruelly across our trusting thoughts. 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.
Here is that sign of contradiction that the old layman Simeon warned of when he chanced upon the little family presenting their first-born to the Lord. “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” (Lk 2: 34-35)
Where will I find that promised comfort? Paul finds it in embracing the cross that comes to him at every turn in his commitment to proclaiming the new creation that is begun in Jesus the Messiah. I am reminded of classical images of great and holy people embracing the cross: Francis of Assisi, John of the cross and Teresa of Avila, and the list would go on and on. We too do it in our day as we fight for the right against the contradictions thrown in our face by a conflicted world.
When I allow love to be my motivation, rather than greed or envy, resentment or self pity, then I am able to give my love with joy, or at least peacefully, If I meet an unfair attack with the simple unadorned truth. I may even be a sign of contradiction myself.
*****
And now to sit in quiet contemplation of the great mystery: that the Creator of all would, in the process of renewing all things as a New Creation, not only send his First-Born for the task, but have him involve all of us in the work. In what way does Creation need to be made new?
Well technically it's a repair job because we have messed it up so badly, and messed up our own selves worst of all. There's a desperate need to save whatever can be salvaged. And where would you look for an example of that ?
We reflected above: We too do it in our day as we fight for the right against the contradictions thrown in our face by a conflicted world.
Let's just take NAIDOC WEEK and look at who is responsible for the damage done to a whole race of beautiful people. We have suggested greed, envy, resentment and self-pity as the engine that produces injustice and oppression, even leading to extermination. First our precursors, the colonists, wanted everything for themselves so they forced the original owners off their lands, drove them further out, and on too any occasions killed them en masse just to be rid of them.
Then came assimilation. Steal the children from their families; have them grow up in our environment and culture, and the original peoples will be soon forgotten.
Except they weren't forgotten by that Stolen Generation. There is a New Creation happening among us and it is gaining strength year by year - and we have a share in the privileged mission of the 72, as we are sent to heal the sick and cast out demons, preparing for his visit. It is Christ who will heal the memories, repair relationships, restore dignity. We should not imagine it is for us to fix everything ourselves - as if by ourselves we could fix anything at all!
So the Lord Creator, our Father, gives us work to do. Let's get down to it straight away. At the very least we can learn about Naidoc Week and talk about it with family and friends. Home page | NAIDOC
And pray that it will grow stronger year by year and bear fruit. Fruit like Victoria's Yoorrook Commission that is currently reporting its 100 recommendations. May the government not hide them in the never-never of committees.
*****
It's nice to get a glimpse into the excitement of the early decades of Christianity, but we've come a long way since then. Rather than excitement, an observer today might encounter a mindset cynical and reserved. Reasons are obvious enough: we have been cowered by the rationalism of the Enlightenment and, while the stinging pain of the Counter-Reformation is but a living memory, there is now little enthusiasm for taking risks or making any great leap of faith. Hard enough to keep alive a basic trust that God will provide.
So today, when we take up again the consecutive selections of Luke's gospel it would be good to have something to relish and enjoy. The first reading is among the most tender in the bible. Look at it again. Could anyone write a more encouraging piece, ever? The city where God is to be found is a mother, nourishing her babies from her abundant breasts.
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.
Our Jerusalem is, of course, the church which, as a collective, is the very body of Christ, and Christ is God incarnate in us, members of the body.
*****
Suddenly in the second reading we are confronted with a disturbing passage from Paul writing to those "stupid" Galatians. (3:1 They were possibly a Celtic people; like the mad Irish.) Paul's only boast is @the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.@ This is in sharp, almost brutal, contrast to Isaiah's comforting words, but it takes me back to stories from the beginning.
When they took the baby Jeshua to the temple to present him to the Lord, as every first-born was given to God, an old layman called Simeon came by and took the baby in his arms and offered thanks to God in the most beautiful words:
@Now, Lord, you can dismiss your servant in peace, for my eyes have seen the salvation you have promised your people... Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said. Then he blessed them and told Mary, 'This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him, and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking.' @ ( See Luke 2: 27-35 NIV & CEV)
Now we see Paul experiencing something similar to what Mary already knew. And, need we add, it will be the experience of everyone who volunteers for the gospel mission: "the world crucified to me, and I to the world."
*****
We would love to have a manual telling us how to be missionary. At first sight this passage appears to be just that, but one commentator I read calls it, rather, Luke's meditation on mission. Lucky, that! As a manual it falls short rather badly. There's no section on what to teach - and I (we?) tend to think of our mission being to teach the faith as we have it in the catechism. After all the teachers are expected to have their converts ready to profess that they believe 'everything the catholic church believes and teaches.' In the case of adults we would be concerned to make sure they had an adult understanding of everything Jeshua taught the apostles.
So this is not a program of stories to tell and explain but a reflection on what is entailed in going on mission. Let's go through the instructions Luke has here and see what we can make of them.
The first thing I notice is the "two by two". There are three reasons for pairing off as missionaries: 1. for mutual support; 2. according to Deuteronomy (19;15), in bearing witness the voice of two witnesses is required; and 3. two people working together is an example of the gospel of peace in practice.
"Lambs among wolves" points to another two ideas for our reflection: first, opposition is to be expected - even a hostile reception - strong enough to make us afraid; and second, the lamb lying down with the wolf is a classic image from Isaiah (11:6). It is symbolic of a new era of reconciliation and peace.
To greet no-one along the way looks strange here. Perhaps it is Luke's way of telling us to avoid being side-tracked, but make sure we get on with the job. I believe priests are notorious for their hobbies, (which may be an important survival technique for the celibate), but ideally the man with a mission is going to be engrossed in the gospel - like some musicians have music coming out of every pore.
*****
Before we go any further we could ask: How should lay people be missionaries today? Luke makes no mention of teaching "everything Jeshua did and taught". In fact these 72 are sent to all the places he himself was going to visit. Their's is the role of advance scouts, getting people ready for this visitation from the Word of God.
This role is very familiar to us today in many areas. To note, though, is that these disciples seem not to be expected to make converts; Jeshua himself will do that when he visits. The important consideration for reflection here is that it is all God's work. We are merely instruments, and according to Paul, pretty blunt ones at that, and unprofitable. Like the Baptist we are sent to prepare the way of the Lord.
*****
Now our selection jumps forward to where Luke tells of the disciples' excited return, bursting to tell of their success. "Even the demons!" I can't help thinking that Jeshua indulges in some gentle irony here. With a wry smile he declares: "I saw Satan fall from the sky, like a bolt of lightning." We might say: ' I watched you shoot him down in flames!'
Then, serious again, he gives an assurance calculated to calm their fears for future missions. "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."
It's a pity today's selection ends there because the next few lines would link us back to the first reading:
'At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do.
“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”'
Two things to note, before we leave you to remain in this place of comfort, in silence, and allow the Spirit to establish you in his peace.
First, we can't help seeing the babes of the first reading in the little children mentioned here. We are to receive the gospel as open-minded, vulnerable little children, and to trust that in time we will be gradually filled with its light.
And the second point will be the high point of our time of contemplation. It is one of the key messages that John highlights in his Last Supper account: @He who sees me sees the Father.@
We know God as the Godself is revealed in the Son: "No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”