At the heart of everyone’s desire is happiness – everyone wants to be happy – essentially the reason why we do what we do.
Deep within every one of us is the need to achieve or accomplish something because it brings us happiness realizing that we have done something useful or worthwhile with our life.
In the Gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20), the disciples were rejoicing when they returned because they accomplished something worthwhile. The seventy-two disciples said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of Your name.” That is the key - the disciples knew who was really at work and to whom credit really belonged.
Jesus said, “Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The real source of the joy of the disciples was not that they had great powers and authority. It was their awareness of being part of God’s kingdom, they were doing the will of God… and that their names are “written in heaven” which assured them of eternal life in the presence of God… eternal joy and happiness…
You see - The joy of Christians – us – our joy comes in realizing not so much what we are able to do, but realizing what God is able to do in us and through us – in spite of ourselves, in spite of our weaknesses, in spite of our sinfulness …acknowledging that our accomplishments are entirely by the grace of God… – that is why we cannot boast about anything except our sinfulness - meaning – we are saved not by how good we are but by God’s grace.
St. Paul – who accomplished great things for the spread of the Gospel – said: “I am what I am by the grace of God.” (1 Cor. 15:10)
We rejoice not because things are perfect but because we are not alone - God is with us, holding us, healing us, filling our hearts with new life.
We are reminded today that we find our identity, our self-worth – not in our looks or success or accomplishments – but we find our identity, our self-worth – in our relationship with God… The truth is God loves us.
God holds us like a mother holds her child in her arms, as a mother comforts her child as we heard in the first reading. God gives us power, strength and joy even in difficult times.
Our primary or central responsibility is to cooperate with the grace of God by building a true character, strong personality that help us to be fit to enter the kingdom of heaven. We need to do our part and cooperate.
My brothers and sisters in Christ – if we think that the goal or purpose of our life is just our own personal comfort, seek pleasure, survival and living life easy, - reality check - we will find that much of life is in conflict with that kind of thinking as to the purpose of our life… because inevitably, sooner or later, in one form or another - unpleasant experiences will come to our lives. If violence or illness or accident does not get us, old age will. That is the nature of our fallen broken sinful human existence. That is just the fact of life - the reality.
But – the good news is - when we realize and accept that the primary purpose of our life is to become the person we are meant to be, to become what God created us to be, that our goal is to build the kind of character that is suitable to be in heaven – our true home - then we will find that even unpleasant painful experiences have meaning….. and we begin to see trials, struggles in life as the very stuff of which character is made.
The late Father Anthony DeMello, a Jesuit priest, said: “Pleasant experiences make life delightful. Painful experiences lead to growth.”
You see – strength is the result of struggle…like our muscles. Courage comes when we meet troubles face to face and when we go through dark times in our lives trusting in the grace and providence of God… at times even hoping against hope.
Jesus sent out the seventy-two not only to do something but also for them to become what they were called to be – true disciples of Christ. It is a matter of being, not just doing.
That is why Jesus sent them two by two. Jesus could have sent the disciples one by one so they could cover more grounds or reach more people… basically doubling their coverage… but you see – something happens to us when we live with and work with other people.
To be the person we are called to be – we need each other. For example, the only way I can become a loving person is to have another person for me to love, to have another person to love me. The only way I can learn to resolve conflict is to have another person to have a disagreement with, to work through the conflict with, and still remain friends or family.
I learn to be patient when I live with or work with someone who is irritating or who really tests my patience. If you pray for patience, God will send you someone who is hard to live with, who will really test your patience.
Jesus taught his disciples to forgive over and over again. It is fairly easy to forgive a stranger, whom you meet one time and never see again. It is more challenging to forgive the people whom we live with and work with on a daily basis. They can get on our nerves. At times, often times, their wants and desires and wishes conflict with our wants and desires. These are the people we need to forgive over and over again… day after day.
Jesus gave each of his disciples someone with whom they could practice forgiveness and reconciliation.
So, we need each other to enrich our life… to teach us how to love...
We need each other for the road, for the journey of life that lies ahead. Many of us probably have already experienced this - in times of struggle and difficulty, there were times we needed to be brave - maybe not for ourselves, but for someone else – for our families. We had to be strong for them
… And there were times we leaned on others who gave us strength and hope because they inspired us… they encourage us. They remained hopeful and continued to encourage us even when they seemed to have every reason to give up. They helped us carry on.
That is the beauty of our Eucharistic celebration. Here at our mass – we enter more deeply into communion with God who is the source of all that is good, grace and mercy and we enter more deeply and closely in communion with one another as we journey towards heaven.
As we heard in the Gospel: The kingdom of God is at hand!
The question for us to continue to ponder is this: How are we living our lives? Who or what are we becoming?
Each of us are called to mission. You do not need to be a preacher or go to far off lands. Jesus sends us where we are: to our homes, schools, workplaces, neighborhoods.
We may wonder if our efforts matter. You see - Every act done in love and in Jesus’s name brings light into the world.
One day, a man noticed a boy walking along the beach picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea. The man told the boy: “There are thousands of them… you cannot make a difference”. The boy picked up another starfish and replied: “I make a difference to this one.”
Let us live with a mission in our hearts. Let us go with courage because the kingdom of God has come near and we are part of it.
Let us ask ourselves: Where is Jesus sending me? Who can I comfort? Who can I forgive? Who can I serve - this week? The mission is here. The harvest is now. Let us answer the call.
God bless us all.