14th Sunday of Ordinary Time: July 4th, 2010

1st Reading, from the Book of Isaiah, 66: 10-14c
-The Lord Judges the Nations-

"The Lord says, "I will bring you lasting prosperity."

On this reading God speaks, clearly offering the people of Jerusalem, a prosperous future. Their journey back to the Promised Land has lasted about 40 years, and they feel emotionally and physically exhausted. Their spirits are starving for reassurance, so God's message to them, is manna from the heavens. The Almighty is giving them confirmation of how much He loves them, and the message is a prophecy of how far in life they will go.

Like the people of Jerusalem, today's migrants hope for words of encouragement, wishing that -at their destination-, prosperity will await for them.

In these hard economic times, when all we hear on the radio and television are government news explaining how bad our situation is, and how much worse it will be before getting just a bit better, we too hope - like the people of Jerusalem- to hear the Good News. Because it is during difficult times like current ones, that we crave for promises of a better and bountiful future. And though we might not be aware of it, deep inside what we most yearn for is something compared to the celestial promise that God gave to Jerusalem when he said, "You will be like a child that is nursed by his mother, carried in her arms, and treated with love."

Dear God, we call onto you, faithful children, trusting you, believing in you, and above all, hoping that our time for prosperity be near.

***************************GOD IS LOVE*****************************

2nd Reading, from the Letter to Paul to the Galatians, 6: 14-18
-Final Warning and Greeting-

Paul letter to the Galatians is a reminder to live a clean life, to cultivate a pure heart that is eager to follow God's path.

The people of Galatia is experimenting disbelief and confusion, and their psychological strenght is so depleted that God's Good News are considered to be "false teachings." So Paul's letter to them is written with the hope that they will be able to see the veritable truth that multiplies in front of them, that external signs of submition do not lead us to be better Christians, but instead that it is only through sacrifice that our cross will become lighter and easier to carry along.

Erroneously, we are lead to believe that we can reach the Kingdom of God by merit of listening to human teachings, that insist on claiming that their message is the only one and the "real" one. As we grow up, the understanding that the truthful servants of God can be identified by their actions and not by their clothes or the symbols they use to adorn their bodies.

Beloved Father, may we be able to become your greatest students, so we are able to help spread your message to many more than just a few.


***************************GOD IS LOVE*****************************

The Gospel according to Luke, 10:1-13, 17-20
-Jesus Sends Out the Seventy Two- & -The Return of the Seventy Two-

"...do not be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven."

Turner and Hooch. Rick Castle and Detective Beckett. FBI agents Mulder and Scully. The mere fact that cops and other law enforcement agents patrol in pairs is an indication of the potential dangers that performing their duties can bring along.

On today's Gospel the 72 are sent out in pairs too, hinting that the same dangers faced by cops on the street could await at the end of their road. The potential for danger awaits every step of the way, and despite this, off they go. Jesus, a good supervisor, instructs them to be prepared because, though some towns will receive them with open arms, some others will be so unwelcoming to them, that the 72 will be rightful in reminding those towns that even their own dust will turn on them when Kingdom comes.

Police force, fire-fighting teams, teachers, doctors... They're never enough of them to supply demand. The lack of having enough laborers to work during harvest time has been announced in this Gospel through Jesus' words to the 72. The anomaly of not having enough hands to do the job remains ever present today in almost every field, from fast-food workers to priests in the Mother Church -especially within our Mother Church which today's anemic numbers signal a great lack of brothers, sisters, and other dedicated religious ministers-.

Upon their return, the emotional 72 share with Jesus stories about their amazing journeys, including tales that include evil spirits obeying their orders. Jesus reply to them is much more than a wake up call, as it redirects them to the fact that the glory attached to their "uniforms" ad to their special powers, are mere glitter without glue that cannot stick to any surface. Jesus reminds them that the real glory given to them lays not on the "special powers" blessed upon them, but on the fact that through their work and their sacrifices their names will be added on to the glorious "list of Heaven."