Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Luke 10, 17- 24
The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus,
“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.”
At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said,
“I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
for although you have hidden these things
from the wise and the learned
you have revealed them to the childlike.
Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will.
All things have been handed over to me by my Father.
No one knows who the Son is except the Father,
and who the Father is except the Son
and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.”
Turning to the disciples in private he said,
“Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.
For I say to you,
many prophets and kings desired to see what you see,
but did not see it,
and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”
May your name be written in Heaven
1. Power. The power of an apostle is to help, to serve and to make people’s lives easier. An apostle helps carry the heavy burdens that people have on their shoulders. The Church’s power is service. Please don’t look at the Church through the perspective of worldly power since this will lead you to see your brothers and sisters as employees and your parish as a company. It will make you follow statutes instead of the Gospel and it might even lead you to become close to the priest to show your power instead of being humble and learning, or even to subordinate your brothers and sisters to yourself rather than helping them. The power of the church is to take Jesus to others and not to use him in our ecclesial political campaigns.
2. Joy. It’s wonderful to see how the church continues to live and work despite so many internal struggles, and to see how the Holy Spirit continues to show us He is with us. I’m referring to the joy that we have when the Holy Spirit is within us. I like to study the history of the Church, especially John XXIII and Paul VI and I’ve arrived at the conclusion that many great saints have appeared in the hardest or darkest moments of the church. There has never been a lack of ‘disaster prophets’, and at the same time, we’ve never been short of saints who show that Christ leads his Church.
3. Happiness. How wonderful it is when one finds happiness in God! It’s beautiful to see someone smile and to know that the Christian community wants our happiness. It’s not my intention that you should become a priest or a nun, or to be part of a church movement or group. I just want you to be happy, the road depends entirely on you and God. Cheer up! Jesus is always waiting for you in the confessional, and remember the absolution prayer, “through the ministry of the Church may God give you forgiveness and peace”. Let’s search for forgiveness and peace.
Something good is on the way!
God bless you, be with you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
