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Many today have the impression that Jesus was a marginal preacher who only had twelve men and several women following him. \u00a0No one else listened to his message until it was too late, until they had nailed him to a cross.<\/p>\n
Today\u2019s Gospel passage presents a different reality. \u00a0Jesus commissions seventy-two men to go out in pairs to preach the Gospel. \u00a0Who are these men? \u00a0Where did they come from? <\/p>\n
These men had been transformed by the message Jesus preached and had even remained willing to follow him after the harsh words of Jesus which we heard last week in the Gospel reading:<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cLet the dead bury the dead\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u201cNo one who sets his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.\u201d <\/p>\n
These seventy-two men were willing to leave everything behind and to venture into an unknown path trusting only the words and detailed instructions of Jesus.<\/p>\n
A priest in ancient Rome named Hippolitus redacted a list with the names of the seventy-two, including among them James the Greater, Luke and Mark the evangelists, Barnabas and Silas the companions of Saint Paul, Stephen the first martyr and Ananias who baptized saint Paul. \u00a0Among them was also Saint Addai who evangelized Persia and is still remembered today by Christians in the Middle East, especially by Chaldean Christians in Iraq, for having written the prayers of their liturgy.<\/p>\n
When considering these men and their willingness to dedicate their entire lives to the preaching of the Gospel, two things came to my mind:<\/p>\n
1. <\/span>Throughout the centuries millions of men have followed the steps of these 72 disciples and gone out to be laborers for the master as priests.<\/p>\n2. <\/span>When one person gives his or her life to Jesus, Jesus is able to work wonders through them.<\/p>\nPresently there are 410,000 priests in the world serving 1.16 billion Catholics. <\/p>\n
The number of priestly ordinations worldwide has increased from 4,600 in 1970 to 6,800 in 2010. \u00a0The number of seminarians worldwide since 1985 has increased by 15,000 to 58,000 men currently studying to become priests.<\/p>\n
In 1970 there were 309 permanent deacons in the whole world, today there are 36,539. <\/p>\n
Just as some wrongly believe that Jesus only had twelve men and a few women following him, some believe that today not many people choose to follow Christ in a radical, self-giving way. \u00a0Yet the facts show that many are willing to be sent to preach the Gospel.<\/p>\n
While in seminary I oftentimes thought of my two Syrian friends who were studying for the Armenian Catholic Diocese of Aleppo in Syria. \u00a0In my thoughts, I would compare what I would return to in the United States and what they would return to in Syria. \u00a0I always thought of them as heroes because they were returning home knowing well the consequences of preaching the Gospel. \u00a0One is now a hostage of Syrian rebels. \u00a0The other bravely continues to work in his parish in Aleppo.<\/p>\n
A priest who graduated from my university in Rome a few years before me was a priest in Iraq. \u00a0He was murdered in 2007 at the doorsteps of his parish in Mosul with his deacons. \u00a0Father Ragheed Ganni was a Chaldean Catholic priest. \u00a0My professors and many students remembered him well. <\/p>\n
Men, in the thousands. continue to follow the radical call of Jesus Christ, the same call the seventy-two disciples received and answered. <\/p>\n
The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few. \u00a0We must ask the Master to continue to send laborers for his harvest. \u00a0The impact one laborer can have is as immeasurable as God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n
Think of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta. \u00a0Born in Albania, she traveled to India as a religious sister to teach at a young girls\u2019 school. \u00a0She received a call to leave everything behind to serve the poorest among the poor in Calcutta. \u00a0Her labor has certainly yielded an abundant harvest. \u00a0Fifteen years after her death, the order she founded has 4500 sisters in 133 countries taking care of those society rejects: the poor, the sick and the dying.<\/p>\n
Saint Catherine of Siena wrote, \u201cIf you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire.\u201d <\/p>\n
Answering God\u2019s invitation to follow him with our whole hearts will set us on fire and we will certainly set the world on fire with the Holy Spirit.<\/p>\n
Saint John Vianney was sent to rural and remote village of Ars, France in 1818 because he was not considered very smart. \u00a0John Vianney ministered during the aftermath of the French Revolution, one of the most difficult periods of history for the Church. \u00a0Thousands of priests and religious had been executed or had abandoned ministry. \u00a0Monasteries were suppressed, the Church threatened, cathedrals turned into Temples of Reason, stables or markets, and the faith ceased to be taught in whole regions of France. <\/p>\n
Yet by trusting in God\u2019s grace and diligently working in Ars, the little piece of God\u2019s Church entrusted to him, Saint John Vianney helped transform the soul of a whole nation. <\/p>\n
This happened because he did what God called him to do. \u00a0Even though he was in remote Ars, because he did God\u2019s will, God set the world on fire through his faithful discipleship.<\/p>\n
What does this all mean for us today?<\/p>\n
That we must not be afraid to answer the call and to be sent. \u00a0God may be calling you some of the young men here the priesthood and some young ladies to religious life. \u00a0Others he calls to marriage or the single life. \u00a0Whatever the call, He calls all of us to live out our faith with conviction and with courage, so that through our faithful discipleship God may set the world on fire.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Many today have the impression that Jesus was a marginal preacher who only had twelve men and several women following him. \u00a0No one else listened to his message until it was too late, until they had nailed him to a cross. Today\u2019s Gospel passage presents a different reality. \u00a0Jesus commissions seventy-two men to go out […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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