Mission dependence

This weekend in July in North America is marked by the National Day celebrations of Canada and the United States. The texts in theRoman Catholic Lectionary today contain celebration too. The Prophet Isaiah calls on the exiles who have returned to Jerusalem from Babylon to celebrate the rebuilding of the Temple. He pictures the spiritual centre for the Israelites as a mother who feeds her children with great prosperity rooted in the steadfast love and protection of God for His children. This praise is echoed by the psalmist today, too. The letter of Paul to the Galatians celebrates not independence but the praise of Paul to God for the privilege of being crucified to the world through carrying the Cross of Jesus. The radical dependence of Paul on Jesus has brought him much physical and spiritual suffering which is the experience whereby Paul can “boast” of the deep intimate relationship with Jesus which has made him a new creation. Father Larry Gillick SJ comments on the theme of dependence in relationship to God as he notes that “In Jesus, God has extended the Holy of Holies from bricks into hearts”. Friar Jude Winkler looks at the mission of theseventy two in the text from the Gospel of Luke as witness to the Providence of God and the hospitality of people as the key components in the mission of assisting Jesus in His mission of rebuilding relationship with God. The Love of God is the power to change situations and motivate good actions. Being an agent of this Love may tend to lead missionaries to boast in a manner less self deprecating than Paul. Father Larry observes that the combination of our talent and skill and the acceptance of our mission for God may have us discover that “Who we are is a bit tangential to whom we will be through our own achievements”. Paul achieved great intellectual status, power and privilege as a learned Pharisee. He is the tangential “new creation” of Jesus who depends of his intimate Life in the Spirit to bring Good News to the whole world.