14th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.
Lk 10:1-12, 17-20

Graphics taken from the blog, His Time

At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.
As John the Baptist prepared the way of Jesus, so also now the seventy-two disciples.

The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few.
The number of workers for the kingdom was not enough in Jesus’ time. It’s still not enough today. And the number of those entering the seminaries have dwindled rather than increase.

Behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves.
With the exception of John the Apostle, all were martyred for the faith. It is no easier today in the strict Muslim countries.

Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals.
The advice is travel light. It’s like the backpackers of today. Why travel light? Because they were itinerant preachers. They preached about the kingdom from town to town.

Greet no one along the way.
This task of preaching the kingdom of God is urgent. You can not allow your-self to be detained.

Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you,
The disciples might be tempted to look for better food and lodging and in do-ing so forget about their mission of preaching the kingdom.

The laborer deserves his payment.
Those who serve the kingdom have a right to be supported by those they serve. In the OT priests and Levites of the Temple had a share in the offerings.

Cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
It was the common belief that sickness was caused by evil spirits. Curing the sick means driving evil spirits. The presence of the kingdom is shown by the expulsion of these evil sprits.

Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’
When the Jews of the Diaspora (Jews dispersed outside Palestine) would return to the Promised Land, especially on pilgrimage, they would stop at the boundery, take off their sandals and shake the dust. The dust of pagan countries could not be allowed to infect the dust of the Holy Land.

By shaking the dust from their sandals, the disciples would be declaring the town on par with pagans, and excluded from the kingdom.

Introduction

I remember long ago my mother was in the family way. One evening she and dad asked me what name would I want to give my unborn sibling if she were a girl. I thought for a moment. And because I loved chocolate, I said: "Baby Ruth".

Of course she was not named Baby Ruth. Names and giving names are serious business.

In the Bible

It is the father who gives the name of a child. It is not just giving a name. Giving the name means that the father acknowledges that the child is his. By writing on the tablet "John is his name," Zechariah declared the child to be his.

But we must remember that the name John was not decided by Zechariah. It was given by God through the angel Gabriel. This means that God was setting aside John for a mission. The name Jesus too was not decided upon by Joseph and Mary. Again it was given by God through Gabriel. God was not only setting aside Jesus for a mission (Savior of the world) but was also acknowledging him as his Son. Later on God would say, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”

It is also in view of a mission that a person is given a new name. Abram became Abraham. He will be the father of many nations. Simon became Peter because on this rock Jesus will build his church.

In the book of the prophet Isaiah, God says: "See I have written you on the palm of my hands." What does that mean? Several times I have witnessed people asking for the tel. no. of someone. There is a ball pen but no paper. What to do? They write on the palm of their hands. What does it mean for God to write our name on the palm of his hand? It means that God will always remember us. He will never forget us.

Names and Name-giving in our Society

There was a rumor (and this was along time ago) that Rico Puno was courting Tillie Moreno. But Tillie Moreno finally told Rico Puno that she could never marry him. "But why?" Rico Puno asked. Tillie Moreno replied with that "Don't you get it?" look: "If I marry you, how will I be called? Mrs. Tillie Puno. And before you know it, they'd be calling me Mrs. Telepono."

Names are not mere labels. They are meaninful. Martin Sheen changed his family name to Sheen to honor Archbishop Fulton Sheen. When John Paul II visited the Philippines, many parents called their baby boys John Paul in honor of the late pope.

In old orders of men and women religious, they change their name or get a second name when they make their religious profession. I think that the Benedictines do that. John would get the name of Dom Martin, for example. A change in name or getting a second name reminds the person that now he has different kind of life.

I still think that there is sense to naming a child after a Saint, not necessarily the saint on the day he or she was born. What is the significance of giving the name of a Saint to a child? There are two. The first is this. The saint becomes a role model. The second is this. The saint be-comes a protector and intercessor of the child. These are also two of the reasons why the Church proclaims a man or a woman a Saint.

Family names

You don't only have a first name. You also have family name. It identifies you as belonging to a clan.

If you belong to a clan who are doctors, you would be pressured to become a doctor yourself. That is the downside. But if you really want to become a doctor, it's so much easier for you, even just from the psychological point of view.

Sometimes a person may not want to carry his real family name and this, for a good reason. The family name of Nicholas Cage is not Cage but Copola. Francis Ford Copola is his uncle. Why did he change his family name to Cage? Because he wanted it to be said that if he succeeds as an actor, it is because he is really a good actor and not because of his uncle, Francis Ford Copola.

If you ask parents what they want to bequeath to their children, you would in-variably hear "a good education" and not surprisingly, "a good name". A good name is like a charm. If you were a Sycip, it would be easy for you to be trusted in the corporate world. For Washington Sycip is highly respected for his integrity. It is a privilege to be born a Sycip. But it is also a responsibility. You have the responsibility of making sure that Sycip continues to be identified with integrity.

We have a "family" name that we might be taking for granted. And that is "Catholic". Do you wear it as a badge of honor? Or is it just a label that you put when filling up forms?

Do you feel the responsibility of living up to the demands of being a Catholic? Or it is something not worth our attention and concern? Once it pained me to hear an owner of a fleet of taxis say that they prefer to hire drivers from a certain sect because they were honest. The owner herself felt bad about that.

Conclusion

There are three concrete things that we can do.
1. Find out who you were named after. If it is after a Saint, get to know who this Saint was. Find out his outstanding qualities and try to imitate at least one of these qualities. If it is in honor of a certain person, do the same. Find out his outstanding qualities. Imitate at least one of these.
2. You belong to a clan. It is not enough not to give a bad name to your clan. Be proactive. Do something that will bring honor to your clan.
3. You are a Catholic. By word and action, live up to your identity as a Catholic.



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The Salesians of Don Bosco is a religious congregation of priests and brothers dedicated to the welfare of the young. If you feel called by God to give your life for the good of the young, you may want help in discovering if this is really God's will for you. Please get in touch with the Vocation Director (Don Bosco North Province, Philippines) - 0917-7930112 - finvoc@yahoo.com - Bro. MON CALLO SDB.