Contemplating today's Gospel: 200 priests comment on daily Gospel each day
Contemplating today's Gospel
Liturgic day: January 26th: Timothy and Titus, bishops
Gospel text (Lc 10:1-9): The Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place, where he himself was to go. And he said to them, «The harvest is rich, but the workers are few. So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals; and do not stop at the homes of those you know.
»Whatever house you enter, first bless them saying: ‘Peace to this house’. If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you. Stay in that house eating and drinking at their table, for the worker deserves to be paid. Do not move from house to house. When they welcome you in any town, eat what they offer you. Heal the sick who are there and say to them: ‘The kingdom of God has drawn near to you’».
Comment: Fr. Joan SOLÀ i Triadú (Girona, Spain)
«The Lord appointed seventy-two other disciples and sent them where he himself was to go»
Today, we celebrate de memory of St. Timothy and of St. Titus, bishops. They distinguished themselves just for answering "yes" to the Lord. What a joy for all of us to see the generosity and dedication of these two disciples of St. Paul! They met with difficulties in their preaching, but they remained faithful, they were able to pull themselves together and they have borne witness.
«So you must ask the Lord of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. Courage! I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Set off without purse or bag or sandals» (Lk 10:2-4). Behold here two key words these saints have certainly been experiencing: praying (praying the Lord that many will continue to be their disciples); and generosity to be able to follow Him (what difficulties are we to face to bring in the Good News?).
Today, we are also called by the Lord to bear witness; He urges us to be his "collaborators". «Paul availed himself of collaborators (...) yet it clearly appears that he did not do everything on his own but relied on trustworthy people who shared in his endeavors and responsibilities» (Benedict XVI). St. Timothy and St. Titus were capable of bringing the Gospel to different places in Asia Minor, while confirming in the faith several Christian communities that were in need of their support to keep on moving further on.
«Whatever house you enter, first bless them saying: ‘Peace to this house’. If a friend of peace lives there, the peace shall rest upon that person. But if not, the blessing will return to you» (Lk 10:5-6). Peace is the fruit of the announcement of the Gospel. Wherever these saints were going they were bringing in the Lord's peace: it would be beautiful that we could bring everybody, wherever we might be, the true peace of the Lord, while participating in the Holy Eucharist and enjoying its teachings. To get there, St. Augustine recommends us: «If you wish to peacefully mediate between two friends of yours who are confronting each other, learn to be in peace with yourself; in your intimacy, where you are perhaps at war with yourself; you must, first, appease yourself».