Thursday of the 26th Week in Ordinary Time
St. Theresa of the Child Jesus
Neh 8: 1-4a, 5-6, 7b-12; Lk 10: 1-12
Dc. Larry Brockman
Imagine for a moment that one of the 72 new disciples comes to you, all fired up with the zeal of the Lord,  commissioned by Jesus, the Lord himself, just as we just heard in today’s Gospel. This emissary knocks on your door, kind of like the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormon’s come knocking at our doors today, preaching repentance, salvation, and the coming of the Kingdom. For some, it might be uncomfortable. But for others, searching for the truth,  wouldn’t that be something- hearing the message of the Kingdom of God proclaimed by someone who had direct contact with Jesus! That would be really special.Â
Now just suppose that you look at this Gospel in a new light, Suppose you imagined that the person proclaiming the message, the Word of God, every time you hear it at Mass, was one of these 72 disciples? You see, the fact is that we are all so very blessed. Because we all hear the good news of the Kingdom of God proclaimed to us each time we come to Mass. It is as if one of these 72 disciples is knocking on our door fired up and commissioned to tell the good news of the Kingdom to you. The Priest, the Deacon, and the Lector all fulfill this role.Â
Only, we have to make a choice. We can choose to reject the message, whether it’s by not paying attention; deciding that we’ve heard it all before;  or because we aren’t searching for the relevance.   Or do we open the door of our hearts to the scripture message- eager to listen and take it to heart; yearning to find meaning in every word; and searching for the relevance in our lives?  Â
All scripture has meaning and relevance. That is our challenge- to find it, to seek that which brings us to the Kingdom of God. Lest, we hear it said to us that “It will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day, than for that town”.  Â