for October 1
Memorial of St. Theresa of the Child Jesus, Virgin and Doctor of the Church

This week’s progress through the gospel of Luke skipped over a key verse, Luke 9:51: When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Thus begins Luke’s ‘travel narrative’, ten chapters of moving from the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, toward the death that awaits him in Jerusalem. Woven in along the way are Luke’s perspectives on who Jesus is and what it means to be his disciple.

Discipleship has been the focus of this week’s gospels. We learn that it won’t be easy (no comfortable nests for Jesus’s followers!) and that it redefines one’s identity, relationships, and the horizon of one’s entire outlook, from this life to eternal life. 

No wonder the seventy or so disciples are sent out in pairs; who would want to undertake this work alone? The abundant harvest that Jesus speaks of at the beginning of today’s charge to the disciples and the fate of Sodom that he refers to at the end are both images of final judgment, and a firm reminder of the context of the disciples’ mission. The stakes are high, and so are the standards, for the disciples are to be like Jesus himself, practicing his table fellowship, and healing and proclaiming the nearness of God’s reign. 

It’s worth noting that what Jesus mentions first—and repeats—is relying on the hospitality of others: eat and drink what is offered you, and in the next verse, eat what is set before you.  Perhaps this is because settling the question of where the next meal is coming from is usually the first order of business on a journey. Certainly, sharing meals was and would remain a central part of his disciples’ lives, even long after Jesus was gone. 

It is also an up-front reminder to the disciples (and therefore, to us) that they are not to consider themselves in any way better than the people that they teach or cure. No, they are to rely on others for what they need, even giving up their preferences and control—perhaps the hardest part to do!

This is an especially timely reminder at a time when many voices challenge us to reexamine structures of privilege and status and tightly controlled borders between who belongs and who isn’t welcome in our country. Jesus calls his disciples to something different, to a real mutual dependence: yes, I can preach and heal, but I need you to feed me!

Then when the disciples return to Jesus (as we’ll hear in Saturday’s gospel), he will tell them not to rejoice in their exercise of power, but in who they belong to. They are God’s, for their names are written in heaven.

Today’s readings can be found on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops’ website.