Homily for the Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

There is the exercise, isn’t there, where you are shown a picture or a photo, and after looking at it for a few seconds, it’s taken away from you, and you’re asked questions.  What colour was the lady’s bag?  How many children were playing football?  What did the sign on the railing say?  If I were to do the same with today’s Gospel, how would you fare?

How many people did Our Lord send out?  This time it wasn’t the Twelve, but rather “seventy-two others”.  Who were they?  They could have been some of those we hear about later on, such as Matthias, who, after the Resurrection and Ascension, takes the place of Judas.  It might also include Cleopas and his companion, who were on their way to Emmaus when Our Lord appeared to them after His Resurrection.

There lots of other people associated with the Lord as well as just the Twelve.  And today, the Church is bigger than just seventy-two.  From baptism onwards, we are all entrusted with a personal mission.  At Vatican II, one of the documents produced was Apostolicam actuositatem on the mission of lay people, so this includes everyone here, so listen up!  It says that the Church (no. 33):

“makes to all the laity an earnest appeal in the Lord to give a willing, noble and enthusiastic response to the voice of Christ, who at this hour is summoning them more pressingly, and to the urging of the Holy Spirit.”

Now this isn’t just addressed to old people. The Church isn’t just for those who are retired.  It continues:

“The younger generation should feel this call to be addressed in a special way to themselves; they should welcome it eagerly and generously.  It is the Lord himself, by this Council, who is once more inviting all the laity to unite themselves to him ever more intimately, to consider his interests as their own (cf. Phil 2:5), and to join in his mission as Saviour.  It is the Lord who is again sending them into every town and every place where he himself is to come (cf. Lk 10:1).”

For many of us, our “mission” is lived in our school, workplace, family and so on.  But there are times when we, as Catholics, go on a more literal mission.

Back in 2017 I had only been in my previous parish in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, for around a year, when a Catholic movement called the Neocatechumenal Way launched a world-wide mission, very much along the lines of today’s Gospel.  In this country, they began with a Mass on Sunday with Bishop John Sherrington, and then went in twos to different towns and cities across the country.  They left the capital on public transport, taking only a Bible, a breviary, a crucifix, a rosary and a return ticket.  No money and no mobile phone.

Two young men made their way to Hanley bus station, arriving in the early hours of Monday morning.  Unlike London, when they got there, all the shops were shut, and no one was around, so they wandered about exploring for a while, and soon found the Catholic church.  So they arrived at the 12:05 pm Mass and introduced themselves, and I put them up for the week, whilst they did their missionary work, going from door to door and speaking to people in the city centre about the Lord, including even the homeless.  Some gave them the cold shoulder, whilst others were more open.  Once they had gone home I was later sent a write-up of the Neocatechumenal Way’s mission across the whole world.  Looking at the section for England, it spoke of lives changed, those considering suicide discovering a reason to live, discouraged and dispirited priests given new hope seeing that the Church is alive, and the homeless and drug addicts seeing a way forward in their lives.  One of the missionaries was quoted as saying:  “It is the best experience of my life”.

Now I’ve hardly got started.   There is so much more I could have unpacked from the Gospel, and also more from Apostolicam actuositatem.  But the best thing is, to experience it yourself.  Give your life totally over to the Lord.  Be surprised by what He is calling you to.  Also, let His plans take the place of yours.  You may not become famous, drive around in a Rolls Royce and have so much money you don’t know what to do with it, but you will have that contentment that nothing else can buy, knowing the Lord, knowing you are making a difference and fulfilling His plan for your life, and rejoicing that your name is written in heaven.

Curious about exploring things further?  If you would like to ask further questions about the topics raised in these homilies (or maybe think it wasn’t explained too well!), please feel free to e-mail Fr Michael at stjoseph.thame@rcaob.org.uk