Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time

“He sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.” In pairs, for mutual support and to provide judicial testimony to what they see. Ecclesiastes 4:9 says, two are better than one,… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.” He sent them; the verb used is “apostle”: He literally “apostled” them into the world. Every Confirmed Catholic is sent into the world witness to Christ.

Next, Jesus says, “Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals.” Like Jesus on the Cross, Divine helplessness become means of infinite wealth and power through dependence on God; to discover God’s strength in our times of weakness. For example, in our Second Reading, St. Paul says, “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” He is not boasting of his own accomplishment but rather of an event that happened apart from him—Christ crucified, which he appreciates personally and receives as the foundation of his confidence and power.

Next Jesus says, “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.'

Not carrying emotional baggage. You must do what it is yours to do; your security is not dependent on somebody’s else’s response. It’s giving and not demanding that they receive. In other words, we stop depending on something outside of us to fill our needs inside.

“I am sending you like lambs among wolves” means to engage in non-violence and depend on God. The Word of God made known by anger or forceful words or attacking other’s faith does not bring Christ. Influence based on money or power does not bring God. For example, Bishop’s Burbidge’s personal motto is, "Walk Humbly With God" which is the title of his podcasts and YouTube videos and comes from Micah 6:8—“Walk Humbly With Your God.”

Jesus instructs, “Into whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this household.” Peace was always a greeting but with Jesus’ resurrection it took on the connotation of the peace that comes from salvation.

“Greet no one along the way.” Our ministries grow and are nourished by contemplation. Jesus is encouraging us to claim our vocation to be a contemplative in the world, to become the presence of God in the world, to abide in our interior; to immerse ourselves in the mystery of Christ, gaining access to a deeper life at the root of our existence.

When the disciples return, Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky.” A flash of lightning is both sudden and readily visible. Jesus sees Satan fall. In the world of divine visions, the seer may be assured of the trustworthiness of what he is seeing. Its timing is another question. We cannot on the basis of the aorist participle determine whether Satan had already fallen, Jesus’ words affirm only that his fall was certain. E.g., If a mafia boss says to his betrayer, “You’re dead!”, no one would question the dreadfulness of his words, even if the betrayer happens to be alive at the time this is said. His death is so certain that it can be spoken of as a present fact.

It may seem strange that this group of seventy-two appointed disciples, who are never heard of again, bring about a downfall which was not already performed by either Jesus or the Twelve Apostles. Jesus is implying that the disciples’ work should not be undervalued.

Most likely, Jesus means that it is in respect to the seventy-two themselves that Satan had fallen. Satan’s fall is instantaneous in respect to each person that they minister to. Satan’s fall is not a single event until the Second Coming, but it begins with the seventy-two as Satan falls as individuals respond to Jesus in obedience and are empowered by him, and by implication us too, empowered by our baptism and confirmation, and by our firm resolve: on Easter Sunday, we are asked the question: "Do you renounce Satan?" Jesus even allowed people who were not known to be his followers to continue casting out demons in his name (Luke 9:49), and orders his disciples not to stop them, “for whoever is not against you is for you.” According to Luke’s account, the ministry of these “anonymous Christians” is a good thing.

Next Jesus says, “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.” This is not the practice of religious snake handling. To tread is to trample, to walk on, to conquer, to keep under subjection. In fact, in Greek, the literal translation of this verse uses a double negative: “and nothing; by no means or any means, will injure or harm you.”