Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today our country celebrates American Independence Day. It is a day of joyful remembrance of that time when our country became its own independent nation, standing for its own beliefs and the freedom from other powers. And indeed we do rejoice in the many benefits and amenities of our country: the continual struggle for equality of all peoples, the excellent infrastructure of roads, water, and electricity, and the beautiful geography of the place where we live.
But today’s Mass readings call us to another kind of rejoicing, namely rejoicing in heaven, which is our eternal home – the place where we will live forever with God after our short life on this earth has ended. Today’s first reading from Isaiah is a beautiful expression of the joy in the heavenly, transformed Jerusalem. It is a prophetic account of the comforts of this inheritance of ours. Jerusalem represented for the Hebrew people a holy place, a Temple ordered to worship, love, and service of God. The frequent devastation of this city by other nations was always a cause of sadness, sorrow, and tribulation. And the hope of all Jews in captivity in other places was that they might return to Jerusalem, where God was especially present, so that they might take up again their worship of God in that special place.
As Christians, Jerusalem continues to be a powerful image for us. It represents a new earth that is a new home of peace and joy; the heavenly Jerusalem is our final resting place, our eternal home. How do we get to this Jerusalem? Well, we might reflect on Jesus’ own journey to Jerusalem. That journey is depicted by the gospel writers, especially Luke, as one that was grueling. For Jesus’ final stay in Jerusalem included his passion and death.
In our second reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatians, we see the importance of the cross for the early Christians. Paul says, “May I never boast except in the cross of the our Lord Jesus Christ” (Gal 6:14). The cross is that which has made all things possible. Through his sacrifice, Jesus has set us free to become children of God, and to share in the divine life of the Trinity. Nothing else matters: none of our talents and skills are of any use except to the degree that they are in service of the cross. None of our accomplishments are ours so much as they are God’s.
In the gospel passage from Luke today, Jesus commissions 72 disciples to go out and spread his message. When they return to him, they are delighted in their success; they rejoice in the power of Jesus’ name. But while this success is certainly enjoyable for them, Jesus turns their attention to what really matters: by doing God’s will, by being of service to Jesus, they have secured for themselves a place in heaven, that eternal Jerusalem where they can rejoice forever. The knowledge and joy of Jerusalem is what would keep the early Church going as it endured persecution much like that encountered by Jesus. For those early martyrs any hardship was possible because they knew it was not the end; they could boast in the cross and rejoice in heaven.
So also we today can boast in the cross and rejoice in heaven. God has done it all for us; Jesus offered himself on the cross and endured the injustice of the passion. He brought us into the Kingdom, giving us the opportunity to share in the divine life of the Trinity. We have only to accept that cross and to remember that our journey does not end in suffering and crucifixion, but in resurrection. Let us take some time today to repeat and pray the words of our Scripture, reminding ourselves always to boast of the cross, and rejoice in heaven!
- Maria Morrow