Reflection/Homily: Fourteenth (14th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 7 2013)

Reflection/Homily: Fourteenth (14^th) Sunday of Ordinary Time Year C (July 7 2013)

Theme: Our Identity as Missionaries 

In today’s gospel reading (Luke 10:1-12.17-20) the evangelist presents us with an interesting narrative of how Jesus appointed and sent out the seventy-two disciples. In Luke’s gospel, this is the second incident where Jesus sent out people as missionaries. We find the first incident in the sending of the Twelve (Luke 9:1-6) which today corresponds to the mission of the clergy. The second (sending of the seventy-two) therefore corresponds to the mission of the laity indicating that all Christians are called for and sent on mission.

A missionary is one who is sent on a mission (errand). As Christian missionaries we are sent by God to preach the unchanging Word of God in the changing world of man through words and actions. Our primary mission is to evangelize the world and bring all men to salvation. Today we still find the instructions Christ gave to these seventy-two disciples still relevant for our mission. Like them we are sent in pairs not necessarily in twos but as a community of believers who ought to cooperate with and assist each other in our mission. We are sent like sheep among wolves because as Christians we are supposed to be a sign of contradiction to our morally decaying society.

Reflection/Homily: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Reflection/Homily: 5^th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

Theme: Here I am Lord, Send Me

The word “mission” is derived from the Latin verb “missio” meaning to send. That is why I can define a missionary as a person sent by God to a people and a place to do the will of God among the people and make the place a better place. This missionary could be sent as a priest, a prophet, a teacher, a healer or even as a businessman, medical doctor, labourer, etc.

In the first reading of last Sunday, we see God sending Jeremiah on mission as a prophet to the Israelites. In today’s first reading (Isaiah 16:1-8) we also see God calling Isaiah for a mission as a prophet to the Israelites. In the second reading (1 Cor. 15:1-11), St Paul discusses the mission he received from Christ as an Apostle to the nations. In the Gospel reading (Luke 5:1-11), we see Christ calling Peter and his companions for their mission as fishers of men.

It is pertinent to note that for mission to take place, there must be an encounter between the sender and the sent. This encounter is not just a physical encounter but a meeting with the Divine which leads to transformation and empowerment. In the first reading Isaiah had this encounter with the Divine in a trance and his sins were forgiven. In the second reading, Paul’s encounter with the Divine took place on his way to Damascus and in the Gospel reading, Peter and his companions encountered Christ by the lake of Gennesaret.