Today we celebrate the Solemnity of St Patrick, the patron of Ireland, but also patron of our own Church here in Melbourne. St Patrick was a missionary, credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. Today’s readings focus on this missionary aspect of our Christian vocation. Our Second Reading from Acts captures what might be the warrant given to all who proclaim the Gospel: “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 13:47) Our First Reading speaks of the great reluctance many feel on being called, yet it conveys the strong sense of compulsion that often accompanies it: The Lord says to Jeremiah, “I had divine plans for you before I gave you life, and I set you apart and chose you to be mine. You are my prophetic gift to the nations.” But Jeremiah replied: “But Lord YHWH, I don’t know how to speak in public. Besides, I’m too young.” But YHWH interrupted him: “Do not use your youth as an excuse, for you will go wherever I send you, and you will speak whatever I tell you to say.” (Jeremiah 1:5-7)
The Gospel, too, focuses on our missionary endeavours. For, it is the story of The Mission of the Seventy-Two disciples. It follows on and mirrors that of the Mission of the Twelve. (Luke 9:1-6, 10) The Twelve are Jesus’ primary and innermost circle of apprentices, and may be likened to the more official ministers of the Church. The Seventy-Two are a much larger cohort of disciples, who may be likened to the rest of us in the Church, the ordinary Christian. So we cannot write off Mission as of no concern of ours. For this Gospel speaks of the mission of the ordinary Christian.
When Jesus is commissioning them and sending them out, he says to the Seventy Two, “The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers into his harvest.” (Luke 10:2) Implied here is that no one is volunteering to go; they need to be sent. And there is also a sense that those who are sent are not really adequate to the task, but they are the best of what he’s got.
Jesus further says to them, “Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.” (Luke 10:3) Jesus recognises the risk involved in his sending them out, and he knows of their vulnerability, but he send them anyway. The Seventy-Two must sense this, for that is why no one is volunteering, but need to be sent. Then Jesus adds to their sense of insecurity by saying, “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals.” (Luke 10:4) For this task, they don’t need any more than they already have and little though it is. (Luke 9:13) He tells them to “greet no one on the road”—there is an urgency about their mission that doesn’t allow for them to stop and chat to anyone. They are to go ahead of the Lord— “before his face,” as the Gospel puts it, that “face he has set on going to Jerusalem.” (Luke 10:1; 9:51,53) He is setting out NOW for Jerusalem and the fate that awaits him, which will establish God’s reign with its judgement; his time is now at hand. (Luke 4:21; 10:9-12; Mark 1:10, 15) And they have to go before him. (Luke 10:3) This ties their mission to Jesus’ own mission. Their urgency and vulnerability will lend credibility to their mission. For, if they didn’t really believe in what they are being sent to do, who would willingly expose themselves in such a risky venture? (C.f.: Jonah 3:1-5)
Jesus says to them, “Whatever house you enter, first say, Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide.” (Luke 10:5-7) The mission of the Seventy-Two is not to go out into the streets and market places of the world to proclaim the Gospel, but to go into homes. They are not going out on the crusade to preach the Word. (C.f.: Luke 8:11) That is a task more for the Twelve. The Seventy-Two are to proclaim the Gospel through interpersonal encounters in the context of relationships of trust—more like conversations over a shared meal.
St Luke even paints a picture of this kind of encounter at the end of his Gospel in the story of the Disciple on the Way to Emmaus. (Luke 24:13ff) There a stranger risks reaching out to two others as they walk along together. There he discovers that they already know of Jesus, but are having trouble in understanding what he did. (C.f.: Acts 8:29-31) These are those whom Jesus here calls “sons of peace,” those whose character is shaped by peace. (Luke 10:6) That is, these are those who are open and receptive, attracted to the prime quality of what is on offer in Christ Jesus and the salvation he brought about; these are those—like that ‘rich soil’ in the Parable of the sower—who, hearing the word, don’t dismiss it as nonsense, but hold it fast in an honest and good heart. (Luke 8:15) Then, the stranger set about proclaiming the Gospel by digging round what has already been sown, manuring it by sharing his understanding of the ‘Scriptures that were about Jesus,’ breaking open for them what they have heard, and in this way helping them to take the final step to belief in Jesus. (Luke 13:8) In this way do they ‘minister’ to the Word, a word here translated as “cure” but which can also mean “serving,” by helping them overcome a weakness or inability.
It is a personal proclamation of the Gospel, a personal reaching out in the context of a relationship of trust, which can help what was sown in them bear its fruit. This is the harvest that Jesus says is “plentiful” (Luke 10:2), the harvest that is ripe for the reaping, and which the Lord sent them to gather in. (Mark 4:29) We all can do this, though we may feel timid/reluctant/unequal to the task, for it is a personal testimony to our belief in Jesus, and in which we can feel terribly exposed. We may need to ask the Lord for the courage to share our personal belief. (Luke 10:2) But in this way, we do go ahead of the Lord, and whom others will recognise in us—if only as a fleetingly—that they too may come to know him as the Lord. (Luke 10:17; 24:31-32) We are all called to this, to be missionaries. It is a way to grow in our own faith, allowing it to thrive. Let us honour St Patrick by heeding the Lord’s call to us, as he did: “Go now!” says Jesus. (Luke 10:3)