14th Sunday of Ordinary Time

To All the Parishioners of Epiphany 

Jesus Sends Us Out, Two by Two—Never Alone: Discipleship is a Shared Journey of Faith and Trust 

(14 Week Ordinary Time, Luke 10:1-12,17-20, 06 July 2025) 

The Gospel this Sunday (Luke 10:1-12, 17-20) speaks to us about this: the fact that Jesus is not a lone missionary, he does not want to fulfil his mission alone, but involves his disciples. And today we see that in addition to the twelve Apostles he calls another 72, and sends them to the villages, two by two, to proclaim that the Kingdom of God is close at hand. This is very beautiful! Jesus does not want to act alone, he came to bring the love of God into the world and he wants to spread it in the style of communion, in the style of brotherhood. That is why he immediately forms a community of disciples, which is a missionary community. He trains them straight away for the mission, to go forth. (Pope Francis, Angelus, 2013) 

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Jesus Christ 

The Gospel of Today offers a vision of discipleship that is both profoundly theological and deeply philosophical. It is a Gospel of mission—not merely a sending forth, but a revelation of how God desires to work in the world. Jesus does not act alone. And that, in itself, is a message worth contemplating. 

The Ontology of Mission: God is Communion 

Let us begin theologically: the God revealed by Jesus Christ is not solitary. At the heart of Christian faith is the mystery of the Trinity—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is not a monad of isolation but a communion of persons. Therefore, everything God does reflects that communion. The mission of Christ is not the solo endeavor of a spiritual genius, but the overflowing of divine love through human cooperation. 

Jesus, in today’s Gospel, sends out seventy-two others—not to create isolated heroes, but to form a community of witness. He sends them two by two, emphasizing companionship, mutual support, and accountability. The mission of the Gospel is not only about what is proclaimed—The Kingdom of God is near but how it is proclaimed: in communion. 

As Pope Francis reflected in his 2013 Angelus, Jesus came to bring the love of God into the world and he wants to spread it in the style of communion, in the style of brotherhood. The Church, therefore, is not a club of the righteous, but a community of mission, built on relationships, sent to heal, to proclaim, and to reconcile. 

Being-for-Others 

Philosophically, we can interpret this in light of Heidegger’s notion of being-in-the-world. Every human being is already embedded in a world of relationships, structures, and meanings. But as Christians, we can go further. Our mission is not just to be-in-the-world but to live as a being-for-others. This concept finds its deeper truth in Christ, the one who did not grasp at divine status but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6–7). 

In this Gospel, the disciples are invited to be for others—to carry no purse, no bag, and to depend on the hospitality of those they encounter. They are to be signs of radical trust in God and openness to others. In philosophical terms, this is the life of the authentic person—not enclosed in the fortress of self, but open to the world, open to encounter, open to transcendence. 

Evangelization and Vulnerability 

Notice the simplicity of their equipment—carry no purse, no sack, no sandals. Why? Because the Gospel is not a commodity to be sold, nor is the missionary a conqueror. The kingdom of God is brought near by the vulnerability of love. Like lambs among wolves, the disciples are not armed with force but with peace: Peace to this house. 

This reveals something deeply countercultural. In a world that rewards power, control, and success, Jesus sends his followers out with weakness, trust, and the Word. Theologically, this reflects the kenosis of God—the self-emptying love of Christ that is the true power of the Kingdom. 

Joy, not Pride 

When the seventy-two return, they are full of excitement: Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name! But Jesus redirects their joy—not to power, but to grace: Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven. This is a fundamental theological principle: the source of our dignity is not what we ac-complish for God, but what God has done for us. 

The philosopher Søren Kierkegaard once wrote that: purity of heart is to will one thing. The Gospel purifies our hearts from mixed motives—success, recognition, control—and redirects us to the joy of being loved by God, of being written into the story of salvation. 

Epiphany Community Always in Mission 

Dear Epiphany, Pope Francis often speaks of the Church as a field hospital—a Church on the move, a Church that goes out. Today’s Gospel is a prototype of this vision. Every baptized person is sent, in some form, into the world. Whether it is your family, your workplace, your parish, or the street corner where you meet a stranger—these are the places where the King-dom comes near through you. But we do not go alone. We go as part of a communion—supported, prayed for, and ac-countable. We go in weakness, not with pretense. We go not to dominate but to serve. 

When Jesus sends out the seventy-two to every town and place he intended to visit, he prefigures his intention to send an ever-multiplying number of missionary disciples to bring the good news of the Gospel to every place on earth. This means that we too are among those who are sent! As we go, we are asked to lift our eyes from our worries about what to possess and how to fill our stomachs, and instead to place our attention fully on participating in the mission of sharing the good news in every place and with every creature. As Pope Francis taught in both word and example, this is where true joy and peace are found. 

As Isaiah describes the earthy abundance that God desires to pour out upon us and all creatures, he provides us with a fuller vision of what is meant by the Good News. It is a vision of fully embodied delight like that of a peaceful infant sucking on its mother’s breast. Jerusalem (Epiphany Community) both an earthly city and the city of God, is to be the hearth from which divine life pours forth. Not only will our bodies flourish like the grass, but the bodies of every living creature will thrive as divine energy flows through every crack and cranny of creation. This is the Good News; this is what God intends, and we are meant to embody and proclaim it with all that we are. 

Dear Friends, Scripture will not allow us to get so carried away by this lofty vision that we separate ourselves from the often-harsh conditions within which this Good News will have to be proclaimed. In Galatians, Paul says that he bears the brand marks of Jesus in his body because of what he has had to endure as a missionary disciple. Anyone who has ever worked the land –even just caring for a small back yard or garden plot – knows that blight and depredation are included in the ecologi-cal cycles of life, and that our labor to bring forth beautiful flowers or tasty vegetables will at times feel fruitless. Jesus did not hesitate to enter fully into all these cycles of life, including their most difficult aspects. His cross is at the very center of our faith. Even while bearing our own version of the cross, we celebrate Paul’s encouraging words: All that matters is that we are created anew. 

Dear Epiphany Community, Christian spirituality proposes a growth marked by moderation and the capacity to be happy with little. It is a return to that simplicity which allows us to stop and appreciate the small things, to be grateful for the op-portunities which life affords us, to be spiritually detached from what we possess, and not to succumb to sadness for what we lack. 

The Gospel offers us a powerful reminder: Jesus does not send us alone. He sends the seventy-two disciples two by two, into the towns and villages—not as individuals on private missions, but as a community on a shared journey. This is a word of hope and encouragement for us all. In our families, our ministries, our friendships—even in our struggles—we are not meant to walk alone. Jesus wants us to support one another, to be companions in faith, courage, and love. 

Friends, we are all bearers of peace. Every time we enter our homes, our workplaces, our communities, we are invited to be a calming presence, a reconciling voice, a reflection of Christ’s mercy. 

Your deepest joy is not in what you do for God—but in what God has done for you. You are known. You are loved. You are His. That is the joy no one can take away. So today, as we go forth from this Eucharist, let us go together—encouraging one another, trusting God, bearing peace, and rejoicing in our identity as beloved children of the Father. That is the Mission of Epiphany, and that is Our Joy as Members of Epiphany Parish. May God Bless us All! 

Fraternally 
Fr. John Peter Lazaar SAC, Pastor