The Catholic Calendar for Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Tuesday of the Twenty-ninth Week in Ordinary Time
St. Luke evangelist

Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:
2 Timothy 4:9-17
Psalm 145:10-13, 17-18
Luke 10:1-9

A reflection on today's Sacred Scripture:

Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals... (Luke 10:3-4)

Today's gospel reading is so rich, one could write an entire book about it! However, let's take a close look at only a very small part that’s mentioned above. Why would Jesus tell the seventy to travel so light and carry hardly anything? Well, most certainly it has something to do with His warning that He is sending them like lambs among wolves. The allusion to lambs and wolves is found in other places in scripture. It contrasts the peaceful, defenseless and extremely vulnerable nature of the lamb with the powerful, stalking packs of wild beasts, all with a nearly insatiable hunger. Just mentioning these two animals together was enough to develop a sharp image in the minds of those hearing the message and the seventy disciples must have known immediately what they were facing.

They were sent forth to deliver a radical new message and they were sure to face the wolves in the form of Pharisees and other Jewish sects, pagan Romans, members of the Sanhedrin, Samaritans, certainly atheists and countless others that would do anything from just ignore them to being openly hostile. The disciples had to be prepared and ready to deliver the message and this required them to concentrate only on that one thing. Therefore, taking a load of personal belongings would only distract them from their mission which required total dedication.

Jesus said that it is impossible to serve two masters; and countless others have realized this too, such as St. Francis of Assisi who insisted his brothers own no property. Today, we are called to carry the Lord's message and to continue the mission. Our vowed religious remain unmarried in order to concentrate focus on the ministry. Those of us in the laity must also lighten our material load to center on the mission and the message. Part of our religious activity should be to reflect on our lives and eliminate those things that move our focus away from our mission and Christ’s message.

- Don Claunch, SFO
(dlclaunch at bresnan dot net)