Sunday the 6th of July 2025 - The Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Isaiah 66:10-14c/ Ps 66(65)/ Galatians 6:14-18/ Luke 10:1-9

I read recently the story of a military chaplain serving in the first world war. He found a young, wounded soldier lying in a shell crater. While awaiting help to retrieve the wounded man the chaplain asked him if he would like him to read some passages from the bible. The man replied that he would rather have some water because he was so thirsty. The chaplain gave the injured man water from his water canteen. The man then asked if the chaplain could put something over him because he was so cold. The chaplain took off his coat and placed it over the wounded man. The man then asked if there was something the chaplain could put under his head to make him a little more comfortable. The chaplain took off his jacket and rolling it up placed it as a pillow under the man’s head. The young soldier then said directly to the chaplain, “If there is anything in that bible of yours that made you do all that you have done for me then please read it to me”. The lesson from this tale is that if our actions do not speak of the gospel values we proclaim we can be sure that our words never will. We might be the only book about the gospel message that people ever read.

Like the seventy-two sent out by Jesus to prepare his way we must be living, walking witnesses to the message of the gospel, to love God, and to love our neighbour, so that the peace of God’s kingdom will reign on the earth. We are given the same mission as the seventy-two at our baptism, to go out into the world ahead of Jesus, and we must take it seriously. Our lives must be active witnesses to God not merely words quoted from scripture or even less than that. The love and peace of God should radiate out from the way we live our lives not just from what we say. A quote attributed to St Francis of Assisi is, ‘preach the gospel at all times, use words if necessary’. Although there is no evidence of St Francis saying this the sentiment comes from one of his rules that states, ‘all the friars should preach by their deeds’. The point is that there is little purpose in not being seen to practice what we preach. It is through the way we live our lives that the teachings of Christ that we aspire to live by become real in our world. We have all heard the saying, ‘actions speak louder than words’, it is through our actions and the way we live that we should be known as Christians.

Everything we believe in should give us great happiness but sometimes this happiness can be hard to find. Being a Christian is not always easy and for many it has meant suffering and death. Paul suffered greatly due to his mission, but he bore it with happiness because he knew he was doing God’s work and was confident in the reward he would receive. We can also find happiness in the mission we have been given even if it brings hardships as well. Our time in this life is very short compared with eternity and we need to keep focussed on the future rather than the here and now. True lasting happiness will be found in the things of the life to come rather than the passing things of this life.

The first reading tries to give an image of God through the description of a mother caring for a child. Our childhood image of God can be one of an elderly man with a long white beard. We cannot begin to imagine God limited as we are to human thinking. God is neither male nor female but because we are created in his image and likeness, he must encompass the elements of both. We generally only refer to God as ‘He’ because Jesus referred to God as his father. Jesus, the word of God, became human as a man and is therefore the son of God. It is impossible for us to imagine it in any other way, so it must suffice for now. The point is that the happiness we are destined for is being described in scripture as the contentedness felt by a child being cuddled and fed by its mother. God transcends any description human thinking can devise so scripture can only give us glimpses through ideas that we do understand, in this case God’s love and care for humanity is likened to the love and care a mother has for her child.

The gospel passage stresses the urgency of the passing of the gospel message to the world. The messengers are to travel light and urged not to stop and gossip along the way. They are in danger, like lambs among wolves, but they will be looked after if they stick to the guidance. The message they carry is not one of fear or revenge from an overpowering God but a message of peace and healing from a loving God. As we hear from the gospel acclamation, ‘Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts; let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

The Christian joy that we should experience and radiate to others is very different from the passing, fleeting pleasures of this life. There should be a simplicity in the way we pass on the message of the gospel which should be carried by the way people see how we put our faith into action. We pray that God will send messengers out into the word because the harvest remains plentiful but the labourers few. Do we play our part as messengers of our faith?

God Bless Brendan.