Introduction

The story about Jesus sending out the seventy-two disciples in pairs to announce the Good News is the Gospel reading for the Mass for Thursday in the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time. I recall a priest once telling students at Mass that he experienced this in his own life as a student in the seminary. He said that on most days, he was welcomed into people’s homes, but there were some nights when he slept out under the stars. I wonder what this might look like if we treated the Gospel as a metaphor and then looked for situations in which faith in action would bring people closer to the kingdom of God? 

The Gospel

The Lord chose seventy-two others and sent them out in pairs ahead of him into every town and place where he planned to go. He said to them, “There are a great many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers. So pray to God, who owns the harvest, that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest. Go now, but listen! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Don’t carry a purse, a bag, or sandals, and don’t waste time talking with people on the road. Before you go into a house, say, ‘Peace be with this house.’ If peace-loving people live there, your blessing of peace will stay with them, but if not, then your blessing will come back to you. Stay in the same house, eating and drinking what the people there give you. A worker should be given his pay. Don’t move from house to house. If you go into a town and the people welcome you, eat what they give you. Heal the sick who live there, and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ But if you go into a town, and the people don’t welcome you, then go into the streets and say, ‘Even the dirt from your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. But remember that the kingdom of God is near.’ I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be better for the people of Sodom than for the people of that town.” (Luke 10:1-12 - New Century Version)

The Enquiry

SEE

• What are the significant elements (the facts) in this Gospel? Have you ever been asked by Jesus to step out of your comfort zone? What are the significant elements of that situation? How did you respond? What happened because you responded in the way that you did? 
• What causes Jesus to send his disciples out on a mission? Why didn’t they need anything to carry out the mission? How does this apply to the situation in your own life? 
• What are the consequences for those who accept Jesus and those he sends to be a part of their lives? What are the consequences for those who reject Jesus and those he sends to be a part of their lives? What are the consequences for you and for others of your decision to act, or not act, on your situation?

JUDGE

• What do you think about what Jesus expects of his followers? How does what you have read in the Gospel fit with your experience? Confronted with this, what are you feeling right now? 
• What does your faith tell you about what Jesus expects of you as one of his followers? How different is this from what you have found in the Gospel? What does your faith tell you about reconciling the elements that jar? 
• Ideally, what should our missionary endeavours look like, sound like, feel like? 

ACT

• What simple action can you take over the next week that will contribute to bringing about that change? 
  

• Who can you involve in this action and how will you go about involving them?

• What needs to change in the world you know so that Jesus and his disciples, including yourself, are welcomed and God’s mission embraced joyfully? 

Author: Pat Branson

Image source: https://verbumbible.com/2019/10/31/gods-mission-our-calling/

Introduction

The Church celebrates the feast of St Wenceslaus, the patron saint of Bohemia, on September 28. Wenceslaus (907-929) was the ruler of Bohemia and gave witness to his faith: love for the poor, devotion to Mary, a spirit of penance, and the desire to grow the faith in Bohemia. He experienced opposition and his brother supported his assassination. It is little wonder, then, that the Church has chosen the following Gospel to celebrate his life and his faith.

The Gospel 

Jesus said to his apostles, “Don’t think that I came to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. I have come so that

‘a son will be against his father,
    a daughter will be against her mother,
a daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law.
A person’s enemies will be members of his own family.’ Micah 7:6

“Those who love their father or mother more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. Those who love their son or daughter more than they love me are not worthy to be my followers. Whoever is not willing to carry the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who try to hold on to their lives will give up true life. Those who give up their lives for me will hold on to true life” (Matthew 10:34-39 - New Century Version).

The Enquiry

SEE

• What happens in this part of Matthew’s Gospel that would help to explain this radical and perplexing statement from Jesus? Have you ever been confronted with a message about commitment like the message of Jesus found here? How did you respond? What did you do? 
  
• What has happened in Jesus’ mission that leads him to speak about commitment to his mission in this way? What can you recall from the Gospel that supports Jesus’ decision to speak about commitment to him in this way?
• According to Jesus, what are the consequences for those who choose to commit themselves to him? What are the consequences for those who choose to ignore his invitation to follow him, or who choose to reject those who are committed to following him? 

JUDGE

• What do you think about how Jesus describes the sort of commitment required of those who want to follow him? 
• What does your faith tell you about how to deal with the consequences of committing oneself to following Jesus? 
• Ideally, how should people who choose to commit themselves to following Jesus be treated by others? 

ACT

• What needs to change so that people who choose to follow Jesus are affirmed by people who know them? 
  
• What simple action can you take over the next week that will encourage people to affirm those who choose to follow Jesus? 
• Who can you involve in this action and how will you go about involving them?

Author: Pat Branson

Image source: https://blog.truthforlife.org/what-does-it-really-mean-to-take-up-your-cross-and-follow-jesus

Introduction

Jesus wanted to be a rabbi. When he had finished his secondary schooling (Bet Talmud), he went to his local rabbi to ask to be taken on as his apprentice (Bet Midrash). The rabbi replied with two words: “Lek hackeri” (Come, follow me). Some fifteen years later, when he began his ministry, Jesus did not wait for people to ask to follow him. He seized the initiative and used the two words that his apostles never expected to hear. One such man was Matthew, the tax collector. His feast is celebrated on September 21.  

The Gospel

When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,”and he stood up and followed Jesus.

As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”

When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’ I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners” (Matthew 9:9-13 - New Century Version).

The Enquiry

SEE

• What happens in this Gospel story? How does the call of Matthew apply to you? Have you ever heard Jesus calling you to follow him? How did you know that it was Jesus who called you? How did you respond? What did you do? 
• Why does Jesus call Matthew? Why didn’t he call the Pharisees? Why did Matthew follow him “immediately”?
• What are the consequences for those who choose to follow Jesus when he calls them?

JUDGE

• What do you think about the story as it unfolds? If Jesus used Instagram or LinkedIn to call people, would you follow him? Why? Why not? 
• What does your faith tell you about how Jesus calls people, what he calls people to do, and what to expect if you follow Jesus? 
• In the ideal situation, what would change in the story you have read? What would be the consequences flowing from the decision to follow Jesus? 

ACT

• What needs to change in the world so that people will always respond in the way Matthew did when Jesus calls them to join him in his ministry? 
• What simple action can you take over the next week that will help people to respond wholeheartedly to Jesus’ call to follow him?
• Who can you involve in this action and how will you go about involving them?

Image source:

https://www.christiancentury.org/blog-post/ccblogs-network/surprising-call-of-matthew/