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Reflection on the Gospel – Sunday, July 6, 2025
“The Kingdom of God has come to you.”
Dear brothers and sisters, peace and all good.
1. Carelessness, lightness. Sometimes we say that some people allow themselves many joys. For others, joy means enjoying the weekend to the fullest. That kind of joy comes from alcohol and loud noise. That joy goes away and brings worries later, about what was not done, or leaves a headache. I don’t think Christian joy is like that.
2. A pleasant and lively feeling, caused by some happy reason or sometimes without a clear cause, which usually shows on the outside. It could be a smile, for example.
3. Words, gestures, or actions that show happiness or joy. Like jumping for joy, shouting, or laughing loudly. That is what the dictionary says.
What is joy? For Isaiah, it is peace in Jerusalem. After hard times, after exile, joy returns to Jerusalem, and those who suffer will be comforted like a child in their mother’s arms.
What is joy? Saint Paul says for him joy is Christ. With everything that means. For Paul, the cross is joy. “God forbid that I should boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
What is joy? Jesus says it is not about doing great things, or being the best speaker, or converting thousands, as people said before the Council. For Jesus, joy is having your name written in heaven. And how do we understand that today, more than twenty centuries after Christ?
More than twenty centuries ago, it meant that seventy-two people went out on the roads to talk about Christ. It is interesting that seventy-two people went in pairs to talk about the Kingdom of God. It takes courage, a lot of courage, to go from town to town to talk about a nearly unknown man named Jesus, who talks about love, peace, and forgiveness. It also takes courage when the one who sends them warns them they will face many difficulties. Surely, it was not easy. Hard times.
We also can say we live in hard times. Actually, there have been few easy times in the Church. So difficulty is not an excuse to stop living joyfully and to stop doing what the Lord commands.
For us, what should joy be? What Paul knows very well: the gift and love of God for us, shown in its fullest and strongest form: “God forbid that I should boast of anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” There, on the cross of Jesus, God’s love for us shows how serious it is, how “real” that love is. There is no trick or lie there. “No one loves more than the one who gives their life for those they love.” How can we not surrender before a love shown by Jesus dying on the cross for us?
If there is something we can be truly happy about, isn’t it that we are loved to that extent? There is no stronger foundation for our life than this. And nothing awakens our response so much as the experience of that love. Saint Paul is a good witness when he says, “I carry the marks of Jesus on my body.” Seeing how much the Lord gave for him, Paul finds new strength to give himself, to serve the mission, and to endure the sufferings this mission brings.
I repeat the question: What do we have to do to share in this joy? Realize that evangelizing is not just the job of a few. The whole community, each one of us, must announce Christ. The Church going out, as Pope Francis often speaks about. We cannot say times are too hard or not supportive. They were even harder for the first disciples. They were hard for Saint Francis of Assisi, for Saint Teresa of Ávila, for the first Claretian missionaries who went to preach in Catalonia. There are no easy or hard times. We must live our time, in our own situation and condition. No one can escape this.
Every Christian, every follower of Christ, is called to announce the Kingdom of God. Even the most reluctant followers. With Jesus, there are no excuses. Do you think you need a catechist diploma? None of the seventy-two had a diploma, and Jesus himself did not have formal studies in pastoral catechesis. What He had was great love. To be a missionary, what is most needed is love. The Beatles said it well: All you need is love. If you love, you go out of yourself, and if you can share, even with one person, in some way, you have begun to go around the world announcing the Kingdom of God. Because to go around the world, first you go to your home, your neighborhood, your city, your country… And if you can go to meet an enemy, you have reached the highest point of Christian life.
If the Church is not missionary, it is not the Church of Jesus. This is our identity, our essence. Jesus sent the Twelve on mission, then the seventy-two, as today’s Gospel reminds us. After His death and resurrection, just before ascending to heaven, He sent us to all nations and peoples to make disciples and teach them all He had commanded. The goal: Jesus sends us because He wants to change the world, to make it better, to convert it. That way our names will also be written in Heaven. That way we will also be joyful.
Let us not forget:
Jesus, you have no hands. You only have our hands to build a world where justice lives.
Jesus, you have no feet. You only have our feet to bring freedom and love to life.
Jesus, you have no lips. You only have our lips to announce the Good News to the poor.
Jesus, you have no resources. You only have our actions to make all people brothers and sisters.
Jesus, we are your Gospel, the only Gospel people can read if our lives are good words and actions.
Jesus, give us your strength to use our talents well and do all things right. Then we will be joyful. Then we will be happy.
Your brother in faith,