The readings in today's liturgy from the prophet Isaiah, from St. Paul and St Luke the evangelist, speak about people with character.
Isaiah speaks of a people who are not destroyed by suffering, even suffering over a period of seventy-plus years.
Remember psalm 137: By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept and hung up our harps. Our captors asked of us songs; but how could we sing a song of Zion in a foreign land?
These are the people he speaks of -- survivors of a humiliating defeat.
But seventy years later, they are ready when the liberator turns up, for they have lived beyond their grief and shame and learnt a wisdom that faith, hope and humility reveal. They are grateful too.
A word of comfort comes from the prophet and they are open to receive it -- "The hand of the Lord is with his people. I will extend prosperity to her like a river."
Faith, hope, and humility!
We all need loads of these three qualities, don't we! And if we are honest, we know that life, over time, will give us the opportunities to learn how valuable they are.
In the reading from the Letter to the Galatians, St. Paul gives us a promise and a hope!
“May I never boast of anything except the cross of Jesus!”
There was a previous occasion though at the Areopagus in Athens, narrated in the Acts of the Apostles, where Paul tried to mix it with the philosophers of the day but what he said went over like a lead balloon. After that, he championed a different kind of wisdom: it was the wisdom of the cross! It was not something that came from his head. No! He says, “I carry the marks of Jesus branded on my body." He learnt an intimacy with Jesus crucified, and he has a great desire to pass that wisdom on to us: I live now not I but Christ lives in me!
That intimacy and strength of character is reflected in so many ways in the lives of the followers of Jesus. For instance, I remember hearing my father quietly repeating the name of Jesus as he lay awake in the early hours of the morning.How many millions of people do the same?
How many people find great solace in holding a cross in their hands when times are tough? A friend of mine has a hobby of making crosses that are shaped to the hand so people can hold it easily.
I know you have your own little practices that express your intimacy with Jesus. They are gifts of the spirit. Trust your practices. Be faithful to them. They will sustain you in difficult times.
The Gospel of Luke
The seventy-two were sent out to all the towns that Jesus was to visit.
"Don’t carry any bag or purse or sandals; eat and drink what people provide. Be like lambs among wolves!"
"Bring peace, cure the sick and say “The kingdom of God has come near you.”
Again, life teaches us what is important, what people are really looking for!
How do we do these things for Jesus?
If we are old, we don’t move around very much. How do these words of Jesus apply to me today?
In your own homes, what is the manner of your presence, what is the quality of your prayer for the people who live around you?
Within the ordinariness of our daily lives, within the vulnerability of our health and failing energies, can I still bring people hope, bless them with a peace that comes just from my real presence and in a way heals the hurts they carry? It can and does happen!
It is the ordinary people who are the salt of the earth!
Yes, we can bring the kingdom of God near to those with whom we live by the quality of our presence to people and the prayer we say for them.
Conclusion:
There is much comfort and encouragement in the readings of today's liturgy.
Let us take the words to heart and asks the Spirit to show us how to live what we have heard. We are called to be people of a caring character. Let us not be afraid to learn the lessons the Word of God speaks about this morning.
The Word of God portrays the hope and faith we seek in the stories of the ordinary, vulnerable, faith-seeking people of the Bible!