Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

Isaiah 66:10-14c

Psalm 66:1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 16, 20

Galatians 6:14-18

Luke 10:1-12, 17-20

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.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I desire to be with you in heaven. I hope and pray that my name is written in the Book of Life. You know how my life on earth will unfold. Guide me always along the right path that leads to you and correct me when I stray.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Traveling with Jesus: After many weeks, we pick up again the semi-continuous reading of the Gospel according to Luke on Sundays. We last read from Luke 6:39-45 on the Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (March 2, 2025). From now until November, we will be journeying, on Sundays, with Jesus to Jerusalem. This long section in Luke’s Gospel (Luke 9:51-19:27) is known as the travel narrative. Jesus “set his face to go to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51). Jesus is heading there, where the New Exodus will take place. “The scenes that follow all relate to the return of the king. There is both a positive and a negative sense to this return. It is positive for those who will follow Jesus and experience the new exodus from sin, slavery, and death that Jesus has promised. For those who oppose and reject Jesus, however, there will be consequences. Because the return of the king is the overarching theme of the next ten chapters, we will see many stories and parables about people returning home, masters coming back from journeys, and things that were lost being recovered. All these small stories fit into the larger narrative. In light of all these returns, the original Exodus story will loom heavily in the background of the entire journey in the Old Testament. It told the story of Israel’s movement from slavery to freedom. It was the journey that led to Israel’s acquisition of the Promised Land and her eventual growth into a great kingdom” (Powell, Walking with Christ: A Journey Through the Gospel of Luke, 61-62).

2. Assembling the New Jerusalem: In today’s Gospel, Jesus sends out seventy-two disciples to herald his coming to Jerusalem. In this way, Jesus acts as a New Moses, since Moses appointed seventy elders to help lead and judge the people of Israel in the wilderness. The First Reading, from the end of the Book of the prophet Isaiah, highlights the restoration of Jerusalem that Jesus will one day bring about: “The faithful of God’s people, those who love Jerusalem and all that Jerusalem stands for (the true worship of God), will see the restoration of the city. They will experience her as a tender mother who nourishes her children. In the Gospel Reading, Jesus is assembling around himself a ‘new Jerusalem,’ a new community of properly ordered worship. As he sends out the seventy-two on a mission to preach the good news and heal the sick, the people of Israel experience God’s love as like that of a tender mother, and they themselves have the opportunity to join the ‘new Jerusalem’ by accepting the preaching of the disciples” (Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year C, 306-307).

3. The Main Message of the Letter to the Galatians: Since we have skipped from the Eighth Sunday all the way to the Fourteenth Sunday in the Liturgy, we haven’t heard from the Letter to the Galatians. Since this Sunday concludes the semi-continuous reading of the letter, it is opportune to reflect on the letter as a whole. What is its main message? Paul wrote the letter to address a growing heresy in the churches of Galatia that required all Christians, including Gentile converts, to observe the ritual laws of the Mosaic covenant. Paul’s response to this heresy is that “a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ – entering into the New Covenant – and not by the observation of the laws and ceremonies of the Old Covenant (see Bergsma, The Word of the Lord: Year C, 308). Through the New Covenant, we become a “new creation” in Christ. What Galatians also teaches is that our faith in Jesus, to be a justifying faith, needs to flourish in merciful works of charity (Galatians 5:6).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, I desire to walk with you as you lead the New Exodus. Bring me through the wilderness to the heavenly Promised Land. Having washed me in the sea of the waters of Baptism, nourish me with the water of your Spirit and the New Manna of the Eucharist. Guide me with the pillar of the Fire of your Love.

Living the Word of God: Martin Luther preached that we are saved by faith alone and that works of charity are of no avail. This contradicts much of Jesus’ teaching in the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John, many passages in Paul’s Letters, and the Letter of James. Do I know the Catholic understanding of the relationship between faith, works, and salvation? If not, what can I do to learn more about my Catholic faith so that I can be a more effective witness to the truth of the Gospel?