St. Theresa Catholic Church

Christ Sending Out The 72. Luke 10:1-20
The Gospel this weekend is unique to Luke. The mission of the seventy two fits with the overall theme of Luke-Acts, the mission of the church for the entire world. 72 may refer to a combination of all the nations along with the choice of elders mentioned in Exodus 24. Generally in the biblical narrative the numbers 7 and 72 represents entirety. Here we have Luke describing the universal mission of the church explicitly tied to Jesus’s command.

Matthew places a similar command on the lips of the resurrected Jesus Christ. We know from church history that this mission was fraught with persecution  and martyrdom. The command to accept the hospitality of houses that were visited established a relationship between householders and missionaries that were a central feature in the early church. Let us keep in mind that there were house churches for the first three hundred years of the church’s history. 

When the 72 returned to Jesus, they wee enthralled with the power that they were given. They were able to cast out demons. The power of Christ was not just simply wonderful or awe-inspiring, but for the purpose of bringing peace out of the chaos of peoples’ lives. Naturally it is part of a community that loves and cares for each other. 

There is one other thing that we should not ignore. Those who reject the Christian missionaries will be brought to judgement. Such ideas of God’s vengeance on those who reject the Christian mission emerged when torture and martyrdom were a real part of the Christian experience. It is hard to blame those suffering in this way for having such thoughts, but we should always be aware that any such judgement belongs exclusively to God.

Please join   us on the 1st Saturday and 2nd Sunday of each month for food and fellowship.   **Please note Saturday Social has moved weekends to accommodate the participation of more parishioners.

Read our weekly SUNDAY'S BULLETIN for additional church news & announcements.