Seventh Sunday of Pentecost Homily Help
Seventh Sunday of Pentecost – The Mission of the 72 Disciples
Book of Offering page 425 or 492
Reading: 2 Corinthians 3:1-6 Gospel: Luke 10:1-7
2 Corinthians 3:1-6
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by all, shown to be a letter of Christ administered by us, written not in ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets that are hearts of flesh. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that of ourselves we are qualified to take credit for anything as coming from us; rather, our qualification comes from God, who has indeed qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
Biblical Exegesis
[3:1] Paul seems to allude to certain preachers who pride themselves on their written credentials. Presumably they reproach him for not possessing similar credentials and compel him to spell out his own qualifications (2 Cor 4:2; 5:12; 6:4). The Corinthians themselves should have performed this function for Paul (2 Cor 5:12; cf. 2 Cor 12:11). Since he is forced to find something that can recommend him, he points to them: their very existence constitutes his letter of recommendation (2 Cor 3:1–2). Others who engage in self-commendation will also be mentioned in 2 Cor 10:12–18.
[3:2–3] Mention of “letters of recommendation” generates a series of metaphors in which Paul plays on the word “letter”: (1) the community is Paul’s letter of recommendation (2 Cor 3:2a); (2) they are a letter engraved on his affections for all to see and read (2 Cor 3:2b); (3) they are a letter from Christ that Paul merely delivers (2 Cor 3:3a); (4) they are a letter written by the Spirit on the tablets of human hearts (2 Cor 3:3b). One image dissolves into another.
[3:3] This verse contrasts Paul’s letter with those written…in ink (like the credentials of other preachers) and those written…on tablets of stone (like the law of Moses). These contrasts suggest that the other preachers may have claimed special relationship with Moses. If they were Judaizers zealous for the Mosaic law, that would explain the detailed contrast between the old and the new covenants (2 Cor 3:6; 4:7–6:10). If they were charismatics who claimed Moses as their model, that would explain the extended treatment of Moses himself and his glory (2 Cor 3:7–4:6). Hearts of flesh: cf. “Ezekiel’s contrast between the heart of flesh that the Spirit gives and the heart of stone that it replaces (Ez 36:26); the context is covenant renewal and purification that makes observance of the law possible.
[3:4–6] These verses resume 2 Cor 2:1–3:3. Paul’s confidence (2 Cor 3:4) is grounded in his sense of God-given mission (2 Cor 2:17), the specifics of which are described in 2 Cor 3:1–3. 2 Cor 3:5–6 return to the question of his qualifications (2 Cor 2:16), attributing them entirely to God. 2 Cor 3:6 further spells out the situation described in 2 Cor 3:3b and “names” it: Paul is living within a new covenant, characterized by the Spirit, which gives life. The usage of a new covenant is derived from Jer 31:31–33 a passage that also speaks of writing on the heart; cf. 2 Cor 3:2.
[3:6] This verse serves as a topic sentence for 2 Cor 3:7–6:10. For the contrast between letter and spirit, cf. Rom 2:29; 7:5–6.
II. Old Testament References
[3:3] Exodus 24:12; 31:18; 32:15–19 / Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26–27.
[3:6] Jeremiah 31:31–34.
III. Jacob of Serug, on the conversion and calling of Paul
“The crucified One carried a lame mount full of suffering
yet left behind him the lightning of kings and their swiftness.
By the crucifixion, he stripped the gods of worship.
Slain, yet he exposes the idols of the earth as [nothing more than] images.
By his humility, he brought low the proud, who were mighty,
and the crowns of the sovereigns became footstools for his feet.
By his being persecuted, he even subdued the persecutors
that they might accept sufferings without compulsion for his sake.
By his weakness, he instructed his enemies
to become [his] friends and even die for his sake.
Behold! He turned the persecutor (Paul) into persecuted by his teaching
and the insolent person (Paul) into a choice vessel for his Gospel.”
Luke 10:1-7
After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another.
Biblical Exegesis
[10:1–12] Only the Gospel of Luke contains two episodes in which Jesus sends out his followers on a mission: the first (Lk 9:1–6) is based on the mission in Mk 6:6b–13 and recounts the sending out of the Twelve; here in Lk 10:1–12 a similar report based on Q becomes the sending out of seventy-two in this gospel. The episode continues the theme of Jesus preparing witnesses to himself and his ministry. These witnesses include not only the Twelve but also the seventy-two who may represent the Christian mission in Luke’s own day. Note that the instructions given to the Twelve and to the seventy-two are similar and that what is said to the seventy-two in Lk 10:4 is directed to the Twelve in Lk 22:35.
[10:1] Seventy-two: important representatives of the Alexandrian and Caesarean text types read “seventy,” while other important Alexandrian texts and Western readings have “seventy-two.
[10:4] Carry no money bag…greet no one along the way: because of the urgency of the mission and the single-mindedness required of missionaries, attachment to material possessions should be avoided and even customary greetings should not distract from the fulfillment of the task.
[10:5] First say, ‘Peace to this household’: see notes on Lk 2:14 and Mt 10:13.
[10:6] A peaceful person: literally, “a son of peace.
II. Old Testament
[10:4] 2 Kgs 4:29.
Sample Homily
Today the Maronite Church recalls the sending out of the disciples of the Lord, to proclaim the Good News. Indeed, it is from today’s Gospel that the Church coined the term “evangelical poverty,” meaning that for the sake of being totally committed to evangelizing, the disciple should not worry about caring money, bag, or sandals.
In the first reading Saint Paul tells the Corinthians that he need not present credentials of his ability in writings of ink or chiseled in stone. Rather they are his credentials, or what God has achieved in forming them into a community of believers by working through the ministry of Paul himself. Paul more than anyone knew the hearts of the Corinthians and how easily they were swayed by either Jewish believers who wanted to force the Mosaic Law upon the Gentile believers in Christ, or by charismatic believers who amazed them with their seemingly powerful gifts. Yet Paul was the one chosen by the Resurrected Lord to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. He did this not by imposing the Mosaic Law on them or by a fantastic display of charismatic gifts, but by proclaiming Jesus Christ and his truth, the only truth that can save.
In Luke’s Gospel we see the first evangelical mission involving not just the Apostles but seventy-two disciples. They are reminded that they are going our like lambs among wolves. They are armed with no weapons, no money, nothing that the world might find of visible value, but they are armed with the Good News of Jesus Christ. That the world has entered the “last days”, the time of conversion and preparation for the Kingdom of God. Those who are at “peace” with God and seek the fullness of truth will welcome them and provide for them, and they will quickly recognized those who are not prepared to receive them and their message.
The mission of the seventy-two remains the mission of the Church even today. In simplicity, poverty, and with single mindedness, the Church is called to evangelize.