WE HAVE MUCH TO DO AND WE MUST DO IT TOGETHER

The urgency of the mission is not to complete the work, but God’s desire to save all of humanity and the whole of creation

July 3—14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14c; Psalm 66, R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy.; Galatians 6:14-18; Gospel—Lk 10:1-12, 17-20

We find one of the most vivid missioning passages in the Gospels in Luke, today’s Gospel. It reminds us of the urgency of the mission, the freedom necessary to effectively live out the mission, and the source of genuine joy in being part of the mission.

Let me begin our reflections with the end in mind. Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ gave us the source of the genuine joy in our mission: “Tiene usted la eternidad para descansar (You have eternity in which to rest).”

It gives us the horizon of our life and mission—eternity.

The urgency of the mission is not, strictly speaking, to complete the work, but God’s desire to save all of humanity and the whole of creation. It is urgent to bring the Good News to as many as possible, to all peoples and nations.

The relentless work for the Kingdom is the call to repentance and the proclamation of the Kingdom being in our midst.

At the end of the docu-movie, “A Man of His Word,” Pope Francis offers this prayer that gives us the sense of the urgency of our mission as Church, as Christians.

“We have so much to do, and we must do it together. In the darkness of the conflicts we are living through, each of us can become a bright candle to remind us that light will overcome darkness and never the other way around.

“To us Christians, the future has a name and its name is hope. It is the virtue of the heart that does not lock itself up, does not dwell on the past and not only survives the present, but is able to see tomorrow.” Amen.

Missioning instructions

“The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest.” (Luke 10:2)

In his missioning instructions Jesus laid out the condition of freedom as central to Christian mission.

First it is the freedom from material things. One must not bring too much “baggage” and one must not expect material rewards. It is a freedom of detachment from material things.

The late Fr. Jack Schumacher, SJ, one of the authorities in Philippine Church history and our professor in theology, shared this story with us. One time in the early 1970s, he was flying into Rome on the same flight as Father Arrupe who had traveled across several countries. Father Jack had a couple of checked-in luggage while Father Arrupe had a hand-carried valise containing his prayer book, papers, clothes and toiletries. He was known to wash his clothes when he traveled.

Need for focus

Second is freedom from distraction or positively expressed, total focus on the work for the mission. Ignatius of Loyola put this into concrete expression in setting a rule that Jesuits were not to accept any human or worldly honors.

If I may humbly share this story publicly, back in 1996 to 1997, a group of parents and alumni told me they wanted to nominate me for the Ten Outstanding Young Men award for my work in Ateneo de Manila High School.

I politely declined, with a lot of convincing of the parents and alumni, that I took Ignatius’ prescription seriously as I saw the wisdom in it. Temptations that stoke our egos are the most insidious.

Third is the freedom from being overly concerned with success, or more appropriately, our success. This is very related to the second freedom. Here I propose for our reflection Thomas Kempis’ wisdom: “Man proposes, God disposes.” “Homo proponit, sed Deus disponit.” In the words of Hamlet, “There is a divinity that shapes our ends.”

This is the freedom of total surrender to God who called and sustained us in his mission, and we know he will bring the mission to completion.

We come to the final point for reflection. “Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20)

We end reflecting on and praying with Father Arrupe’s words, his prayer and make it our prayer.

Tiene usted la eternidad para descansar. You have eternity in which to rest. Amen.