Fourteenth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year C, By Rev. Fr. Lucas Binnah Junior, C.S.S

First Reading: Isaiah 66:10-14c /Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 66:1-3a.4-5.6-7a.16, 20 (R. 1) Second Reading: Galatians 6:14-18/Gospel Accl.: Col. 3:15a.16a/Gospel: Luke 10:1-12.17-20

THEME: GIVE PEACE A CHANCE!

Today’s liturgy calls us to take a critical look at what it means to embrace the peace of God and to share the same with others. We are sent as innocent lambs in the midst of ravenous wolves. Certainly, the terrain is rough and unfriendly, and this calls for trust, alacrity, generosity and courage on our part. In the first reading, taken from the corpus of writings by Trito-Isaiah or Third Isaiah (Chp. 56-66), the Prophet is entrusted with a message of consolation. This body of writings also known as the Book of Consolation was written to bring comfort, restoration and peace to the exiles who had returned to Israel from slavery in Babylon (after 539 BC). This post-exilic literature is replete with the word “comfort” such that in the pericope of the first reading, we read: “As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. You shall see, and your heart shall rejoice; your bones shall flourish like the grass; and it shall be known that the hand of the Lord is with his servants” (Is. 66:13-14). Indeed, these are very encouraging words from a promise-keeping and peace-giving God!

Dearly beloved, there is no condition which is permanent as far as our experience on earth is concerned. The moments of ‘exile’ – suffering and pain, frustration and disappointment, sin and evil, weakness and addiction, hunger and disease, conflicts and wars – may come when they must come. Nevertheless, they cannot last forever. They will give in to the moment of triumph, when God’s visitation and divine restoration will characterise our lives. In this regard, the Lord assures us: “Behold, I will extend prosperity to her like a river, and the wealth of the nations like an overflowing stream” (Is. 66:12). So, let us not give up, for if there is a time for everything under the sun (cf. Eccl. 3:1) and God’s time is the best, then, surely, we shall experience the moment of peace as God wants for us. So, our faith and hope must no flag. So, believing in his promises and the strength of his word, let us “cry out with joy to God” as the Psalmist exhorts us (Ps. 66:1).

There is no conflict-free life anywhere in the world, and so, in the second reading, St. Paul is not spared of his own share of the difficulties in life – the crosses – which come our way. Like the exiled returnees in the first reading whose hopes were dashed and who saw the rebuilding of their ruined homeland, Israel, as a herculean task, St. Paul also sees his missionary journey, a daunting task. Be that as it may, he recognises the solution in no other thing but the Cross of Christ. So, he says: “Far be it from me to glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (Gal. 6:14). According to St. Paul, by embracing the cross, we are recreated (cf. Gal. 6:15). Our problems may seem to take us off balance, but through them, we obtain power to endure and the patience to wait for better times. When we keep this rule, peace and mercy shall be ours (cf. Gal. 6:16). This is the peace of God which we must allow to rule our hearts always and everywhere – in trouble or out of trouble.

In the light of the aforementioned, today’s Gospel reiterates the essence of divine peace in our hearts, families, homes, societies and the world as a whole. Jesus gives his disciples the authority to spread and share his peace, and so he tells them: “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘peace be to this house!’And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you” (Lk. 10:5-6). Thus, in witnessing to the kingdom of God, we are to be peace[1]makers, people who love and live in peace, and who also look for the peace of others. We are to bring peace wherever there is trouble. St. Francis of Assisi understood this clearly when he prayed: “Lord, make me an instrument of 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; where there is sadness, joy. O, Divine Master, 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 that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” So, we need to give peace a chance wherever we are.

Be that as it may, we need to understand that not everybody will welcome the Gospel message of peace, no matter how near it comes to them. Jesus does not want us to gloss over and miss this point and so, he tells us: “But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you; nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near’” (Lk. 10: 10-11). We can begin to think of the terrorist activities of ISIS, Boko Haram, al-Shabab, al-Quaeda and others. As we reflect today, nobody knows when the Russian-Ukraine War is ending. People continue to be robbed, kidnapped and even killed in church while armed herdsmen also continue to wreak havoc on lives and properties as they rape women in their farmlands, maim and even kill others, as well as, allow their cattle to graze-destroy other people’s farms, and set hamlets ablaze unconscionably.With the unrelenting efforts of the international community and various groups to douse tensions in conflict-prone zones and to appeal directly and indirectly to stop the violence, these groups continue their dastardly acts unabated. The humanitarian and migrant crisis caused by their actions, as well as, economic and political problems which internally and externally displace people from their homes, families, ancestral lands and sources of livelihood is unimaginably enormous! By their words and actions, some people do not want peace at all. To such people, Jesus’ words are apt: “It shall be more tolerable on that day for Sodom than for that town” (Lk. 10:12). Yet, as children of God, we should always aim at and work for peace.

True peace has eluded us for long because we refuse to come to the Prince of Peace (cf. Is. 9:6). Shortly before his ascension into heaven, Jesus offered his peace, his shalom (Hebrew), to his disciples saying: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. Not as the world gives peace do I give it to you. Do not be troubled; do not be afraid” (Jn. 14:27). Peace is eirēnē in Greek, and like Shalom, it is not just the absence of trouble, but everything which makes for a person’s highest good. It is something quite independent of outward circumstances. So, how different is Jesus’ peace from that of the world? Many argue that to have peace, there should be absence of conflicts and war, and, abundance of wealth, money, food, pleasure and boundless liberty. Unfortunately, this is how the world conceives peace. Nonetheless, for Jesus, peace is intimate union with God and doing his will, obedience to his commandments and an unwavering allegiance to God which makes all other relationships secondary! To this end, Jesus says again: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Mt. 10:34). The aforementioned statement of Jesus is not to be taken simply as a contradiction to his being the Prince of Peace. Rather, it is a clear testimony of the fact that, loyalty to God almost always opposes other loyalties even to some form of a‘division’ within one’s own family and close relationships! This is the ‘sword’ spoken of by Jesus and for which he himself experienced as opposition in his ministry in Israel. Hence, a good Christian should not compromise on the Gospel values even in the midst of criticisms from those close to us. Even in such conflicts, we will experience true peace because of the certainty that we are loved by God. Humanly speaking, this is not easy, and that is why we must always remember that “the lamb does not rely on its own strength but on the help of the shepherd.” We must rely on the grace of God through fervent prayer, the sacraments, communion with the Spirit and godly relationships.

Dearly Beloved, God loves us and he graciously gives us his peace and joy. We must open up to receive his peace and to share same with others through preaching the authentic word of God by word and deed. Let us pray that his will be done in our lives. Happy Sunday and may God grant us his true peace, joy, happiness and love! Remember: #Give-Peace-A-Chance#