Gospel Reflection on Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

July 6, 2025

After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house!’ And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, on that day it will be more tolerable for Sodom than for that town.

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

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Today, we hear how the mission of the Kingdom begins. It is Jesus who designates the disciples and then sends them out. We often want to fast forward and focus on the activity of our mission. What are we to do? But we need to pause and allow this beginning moment to catch our attention.

Mission has its beginning in Christ, not in us. Much of what we do originates in our own projects, our own personal ins instincts, comes out of our ambitions. But only that which flows from our relationship with Christ will have eternal value. So we should be very wary of doing things that don't come from this relationship. It's important to ask ourselves a simple question. Is what I'm doing coming from God, or is it just coming from me? A healthy doubt of this sort can trigger real genuine growth. We slowly gain the ability to distinguish, to develop a kind of adult sense of awareness of our purpose. From the time we're little, we have this desire to be autonomous, 'Let me be.' 'I can do it myself.'

But such autonomy can be a form of self deception. And so we need to be encouraged, helped, and critiqued by those we work with. And so Jesus sends the disciples out in pairs. Christian life does not germinate out of individualism.

We must go at least in pairs, and the reason for this is communion. Working as part of a team means avoiding the self deception of autonomy. It also allows us to be encouraged, helped, and in some cases, limited and critiqued. The Holy Spirit creates communion. This is essential, while the the devil, diaballo, in Greek means to go against, is the one who destroys communion.

If our mission has its root in Christ, then all material and technical resources become secondary. There's no need for a bag or sandals. This instruction also seems surprising. Often in our projects, the first thing we think about is resources, a very worldly mentality. Money and resources are not the essential thing.

Money ought to be used and procured according to love. Jesus tells his friends to stay in the house that welcomes them. Avoid transitory or fleeting relationships. Sometimes we jump from one friendship to another without ever really entering into authentic dialogue with people.

And so the style of the Christian mission is always love, born of God, lived in community. One detail of the text is surprising but helpful. The missionary disciples are told not to salute anyone on the road. Why not? Is he telling us to not be affable, friendly?

No. Jesus is simply asking us to be concentrated in what we do. When we seek to follow the will of God, it's important we don't become scattered. And today, this is so important. We are a generation of multitaskers, speaking to someone on the phone while we continue to work on the computer.

The Lord asks us to fix our attention on what we are about. This is the message of mindfulness. Whatever you are doing, do it with all your attention. Don't get caught up in what is coming next. Mindfulness keeps us in the moment, in the now.

And here is where the mission unfolds, and here is where we meet the Holy One.