Homily
for July 8, 2007
Liturgical Year C - Cycle I
14th Sunday in Ordinary Time
By Fr. Joshua Nyoni Topic:
Christ's Peace
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Reading
I Is
66:10-14C Thus
says the LORD: Rejoice
with Jerusalem
and be glad because of
her, all you who love her; exult, exult with her, all you who were
mourning
over her!Oh, that you may suck fully of
the milk of her comfort, that you may nurse with delight at her
abundant
breasts!For thus says the LORD:Lo, I will spread prosperity over Jerusalem like
a river, and the
wealth of the nations like an overflowing torrent.As nurslings, you shall be carried in her
arms, and fondled in her lap; as a mother comforts her child, so will I
comfort
you; inJerusalem
you shall find your
comfort. When
you see this, your heart shall rejoice and your bodies flourish like
the grass;
theLORD’s power shall be known to his
servants.
Gospel Luke
10:1-12, 17-20 At
that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of
him in
pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but
the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out
laborers for
his harvest.Go on your way; behold, I
am sending you like lambs among wolves.Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along
the
way.Into whatever house you enter,
first say, ‘Peace to this household.’If
a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not,
it will
return to you.Stay in the same house
and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his
payment.Do not move about from one
house to another.Whatever town you
enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick
in it and
say to them, "The kingdom of God is at hand for you."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.’Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand.I tell you, it will be more tolerable for
Sodom on
that day than for
that town.” The
seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, “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 scorpionsand 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.”
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In
the first reading from the Prophet Isaiah, we see what Isaiah envisions
as the
kingdom, the kind of the kingdom that has been or will be restored
Jerusalem,
the great king’s city,
had been overthrown and the people had been sent into exile, some kind
of
tribulation, being broken from their historical roots and foundations.Isaiah speaks of this homecoming.He sees this on the horizon, some kind of a
restoration.God is about to do
something to His people that is bringing about security, prosperity,
and in
effect, peace flowing like a river as we heard from the reading.I think everybody is aware of that song,
(singing) “Peace is flowing like a river.”I think I will join them in the choir.(laughing) Now
this concept of peace connects so well with what Jesus speaks of in the
Gospel
today.Jesus sent out 72 missionaries
and their mission was nothing other than their mission of Jesus himself.They were to proclaim Jesus’ kingdom, a
kingdom of peace.“Peace be to this
house,” they were to say.When I speak
of that I am reminded of this story of the “Peace be to You” sticker.The story goes that the man returned to his
car, which was parked outside a very large shopping mall, and lying on
the
front seat was a note.I quote,
Dear
sir or madam, I fully intended to steal your car until I
noticed the “Peace be to you" sticker.It made me pause and reflect.I
reasoned that if I did steal your car, you certainly would not be at
peace.On the other hand, I would not be
at peace
either and this was my first job.So
peace be to you and to me.Drive
carefully and next time, lock your car.
It
was signed, “A would be car thief.”My
advice to you is this – please try and put that sticker on your car.It might help.Who
knows? When
we look at this story, we see that in a way, it does illustrate what
Jesus
has just said to his disciples. “Into
whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this household.’If a peaceful person lives there, your peace
will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you.”That “Peace be to you” sticker, in a way,
extended the peace of Christ to that would-be-thief.The thief was in a way peaceable at heart,
the peace of Christ rested on him, and he couldn’t do anything. Now,
this raises a few questions when we speak of the peace of Christ, what
do we
mean?What are the ingredients that make
it up?The Bible itself, when it uses
the word “peace” uses it in four different ways.First,
it uses it in a military sense to
indicate the absence of war between nations.In that way, we can say we are at peace. Secondly, it uses the
word in a
personal sense to indicate a feeling of well being.Therefore, we can say we are at peace with
ourselves.However, are we really at
peace?I don’t know.Thirdly,
the Bible uses the word peace in a
religious sense to indicate the right relationship between God and
ourselves.We can say we are at peace with
God.Last of all, it uses the word peace
to
indicate that state in which everyone on earth is at peace with God,
neighbor,
and ourselves.This is the peace of
Christ.This is the very peace that we
need.When we look at our nations, we
look at ourselves, we see that we are not at peace.We are torn apart by hatred, by violence,
wars and all these.Even ourselves as
individuals, we are not at peace.We are
wounded.We are a broken people.No one can give us that peace except Christ
himself.You remember His very words,
“Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you.”We need the effort to turn to Him so that we can get that peace.That peace is nothing other than the
realization of God’s kingdom here on earth. Peace
is a positive thing.It implies
openness, friendship, tolerance, a good will, hospitality, some kind of
reconciliation among people.The peace
itself, I would say, it disposes us to be able to reach out to other
people.It breaks down the barriers that
we have as human beings, barriers of suspicion, of fear, prejudice.You can name it.That
peace which we need, we can only get it
from Christ.We need therefore to tend
to Him.May the Lord give us that
peace.As you know, the beautiful prayer
of St. Francis of Assisi,
it does summarize what
we need.It does summarize the peace of
Christ.Therefore, I ask you to pray
with me.Let us pray. Lord, make
me an instrument of your
peace Where
there is hatred let me sow love Where there is injury, pardon Where
there is doubt, faith Where
there is despair, hope Where
there is darkness, light, And where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that
I may not so much seek to be
consoled as to console To be
understood, as to understand To be
loved, as to love For it is
in giving in that we receive It is in
pardoning, that we are
pardoned It is in
dying, that we are born to eternal life.Amen