REFLECTIONS TODAY
A leader who warns his servants of a dangerous road ahead arms them with weapons. He does not instruct them to divest themselves of their belongings. When Jesus warns the disciples that they will be sent “among wolves” (v 3), is it not foolhardy that they are to leave behind whatever little insurance they have against the treacherous path they are to follow?
Reading between the lines, we can safely presume that there must be some powerful force given to the disciples so that instead of being afraid of the mission they are given, they obey Jesus and carry on their task. I believe that their courage comes from the presence of Jesus they carry within their hearts. Having received the teachings of Jesus, the disciples have God reigning in their hearts, that is why they carry within themselves the Kingdom of God. This encourages them to be fearless of the dangers poised by the “wolves.”
Let us always remember that when Jesus reigns in our hearts, we will always be free to be sent to perform God’s mission, even in the face of countless grave dangers.
FIRST READING • Jb 19:21-27
Job said: Pity me, pity me, O you my friends, for the hand of God has struck me! Why do you hound me as though you were divine, and insatiably prey upon me?
Oh, would that my words were written down! Would that they were inscribed in a record: That with an iron chisel and with lead they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust; whom I myself shall see: my own eyes, not another’s, shall behold him, and from my flesh I shall see God; my inmost being is consumed with longing.
GOSPEL • Luke 10:1-12
Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples 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.”
Source: “366 Days with the Lord 2024,” St. Paul’s, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 632-895-9701; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.