Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

July 6, 2025

Luke 10: 1-12, 17-20

Last Sunday on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul, our attention was drawn to what is means to accept the call to be a disciple through the lives of these two apostle, that discipleship is living out the Eucharist by making Christ present in our world. This Sunday in Luke, we consider what discipleship means in action, that is, what happens after we have answered the call and are following Jesus. The first thing we notice in this section of Luke’s gospel is that disciples are chosen. Jesus calls specific people to take up the task of preaching peace and the coming of God’s kingdom.

So, what is the job of the disciple? The disciple is one who takes Jesus place since he cannot be everywhere at once. Jesus needs others to prepare people for his coming to them. The disciple becomes Jesus hands, feet, and mouth; the disciple allows Jesus to be there for others. In our day, this is even more true than when Jesus was present on earth in his human form. Today, we, who chose to answer Jesus call, are the only physical presence people have who can introduce others to Jesus message through his words in scripture and his sacramental presence in Baptism, Eucharist, and the sacraments. We are the ones to bring his peace to others, as well as his physical and spiritual comfort. It is through the Christian community gathered together that Jesus can open the hearts of others to belief in him.

However, there are qualities that the disciple needs to have. First, the disciple must travel light; he or she cannot be burdened by material things and a cluttered life. If we get too tangled up with worries about what we possess, then we have no room in our life for Jesus and his message. Second, the disciple cannot get side tracked, or as Luke puts it, “greet anyone on the way.” This is not to be rude, but reminding us that it is so easy to be lead away from the primary task of being Jesus for others. Third, the disciple is not to be in the work for what he or she can get out of it; the disciple is to eat what is put before him and not move from house to house seeking better and more comfortable housing. We cannot turn in to people who simply sponge of others. 

Next, we need to remember that when we accept being a disciple, we are accepting a great responsibility. We cannot be like the seed that falls on thin soil and flourish for a while and the lose interest. As a disciple, I am important to Jesus and he is depending on me to help others to belief and live out that belief. There is an urgency to what the disciple is called to do; there is an urgency in what I am called to do. My life as a disciple is not just something nice to do; it is an essential thing to do and be. Not to embrace answering Jesus’ call to discipleship is that same as it would have been for Peter, James or John simply to have walked away after a while and deciding to just be about each one’s own business. The message of Jesus will not be stopped by our failure, but it can be made much more real by our daily effort to be Jesus message. Jesus’ life and message are ours. The question for each of us today is how can I best be a disciple here and now, where I live.

There is a story of a chaplain who was serving on the battlefield in World War II. He came across a young man who was lying in a shell hole, seriously wounded. “Would you like me to read something from this book, the Bible?” he asked. “I’m so thirsty, I’d rather have a drink of water.” The soldier said. Hurrying away, the chaplain soon brought the water. Then the wounded man said, “Could you put something under my head?” The chaplain took off his overcoat, rolled it up and gently placed it under the man’s head for a pillow. “Now,” said the suffering man, “if I just had something over me -I’m cold.” The chaplain immediately removed his jacket and put it over the wounded man to keep him warm. Then the soldier looked the chaplain straight in the eye and said, “If there is anything in that book that makes a man do for another all that you have done for me, then please read it, because I’d love to hear it.” If my actions do not speak of Gospel values, be sure my words never will. What affects most people is often caught rather than taught. Indeed, we are the only book on Jesus Christ that others may ever read! 

I can do this by being present and listening to someone who has no one to listen. I can be Jesus hands in bringing someone to church, or inviting them for coffee in their loneliness. I can teach adults or young people in discovering the meaning of their faith. I can play bingo with someone who has no one to share the little things of life with. I can volunteer to be a Eucharistic minister. I can become more active in parish ministries, or I can see if I am called to priesthood or religious life. I can bring a meal or two to someone who is sick or grieving for a loved one. I can read to someone who cannot. I can practice the ministry of presence to the elderly or handicapped. The possibilities are endless, and do not have to be huge like the chaplain on the battlefield. They are our encounters with the people we meet daily as the live out their lives. Our words and actions do embody the only presence of Jesus someone may meet.

Fr. John Tran