October 4th, 2018

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

LECTIONARY
458

FIRST READING
JB 19:21-27

Job said:

Pity me, pity me, O you my friends,
for the hand of God has struck me!
Why do you hound me as though you were divine,
and insatiably prey upon me?

Oh, would that my words were written down!
Would that they were inscribed in a record:
That with an iron chisel and with lead
they were cut in the rock forever!
But as for me, I know that my Vindicator lives,
and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust;
Whom I myself shall see:
my own eyes, not another's, shall behold him,
And from my flesh I shall see God;
my inmost being is consumed with longing.

PSALM
PS 27:7-8A, 8B-9ABC, 13-14

Response: I believe that I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.

Hear, O LORD, the sound of my call;
have pity on me, and answer me.
Of you my heart speaks; you my glance seeks.

Your presence, O LORD, I seek.
Hide not your face from me;
do not in anger repel your servant.
You are my helper: cast me not off.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD
in the land of the living.
Wait for the LORD with courage;
be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD.

GOSPEL
Lk 10:1-12

Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples
whom he sent ahead of him in pairs
to every town and place he intended to visit.
He said to them,
"The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few;
so ask the master of the harvest
to send out laborers for his harvest.
Go on your way;
behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals;
and greet no one along the way.
Into whatever house you enter, first say,
'Peace to this household.'
If a peaceful person lives there,
your peace will rest on him;
but if not, it will return to you.
Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
for the laborer deserves his payment.
Do not move about from one house to another.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
'The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.'
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
'The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.'
Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day
than for that town."

Daily Reflection

4th October 2018

St Francis of Assisi

St Francis of Assisi, whom we honour today, was a 13th Century reformer who, because he saw that worldly attachments were destroying people’s lives, turned to freedom in poverty and emptying of self. His very life was a witness, a sermon in action.

The Gospel of today speaks of the story of Jesus sending out 70 of his followers, a kind of “internship” training of mission work, while he was still here on earth. It introduces the followers to the mission of proclamation or teaching and the mission of liberating or curing. This is what each of us, who belong to Christ, are called to do: to proclaim Christ and the Kingdom through teaching and witnessing and to set people free of what holds them back, be it health issues or other forms of bondage. The 70, through their life and actions, give us a preview of the ministry Jesus calls us to, even today.

We are called to go “ahead of him” bringing his message wherever we go.