Mission and Reflection

The texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary, today, bring rejoicing to mind. Isaiah calls on the faithful to look on Jerusalem which is restored by God for them after the exile in Babylon. The prophet sees hope that the people will return to the deep Covenant relationship with God. Larry Gillick, S. J., of Creighton University’s Deglman Center for Ignatian Spirituality, writes about Luke’s account of the sending and return of the seventy two as a model for the sending of the laity to the “harvest of souls”. He puts this mission in the light of Vatican II, which is one of the early events in his 50 year vocation as a Jesuit. Much has changed in the living of a Christian life in the Roman Catholic tradition. The message of total reliance on the Sender and the direction and support of the indwelling Spirit is fundamental to understanding Paul’s proclamation to the Galatians that the mission of Jesus is everything! (Link to Oremus site.)