When we are faced with the temptation towards sin we must not allow ourselves to give into the cries of the devil, but instead should find our strength with Christ and His statement that: "I have given you the power to tread upon serpents." When we face moments when life does not go the way that we wish we should not allow ourselves to lose hope, but instead to find hope in Christ's statement that "nothing will harm you." As the twelve apostles were called by Christ to become the first heralds of the Gospel message we know that each of them was far from perfect. Despite their imperfections they nevertheless were called by Christ and responded to His message with their lives. In the seventy-two who were sent out in our Gospel passage we again encounter those who were far from perfect, but nevertheless were called to enter into the harvest to proclaim the Gospel message. Despite the hardships that they would have to encounter nothing would harm them as long as their faith remained steadfast in Christ.
We to join with the seventy-two disciples who were sent out into the world to be heralds of the Gospel. The path that we have been called to follow is not an easy one, but it is possible as long as we are able to remain steadfast in Christ. When we are locked into the greatest of vices the hope remains that through our faith in Christ we will have "the power to tread upon serpents." When it seems as if our prayers have not been answered we must patiently trust that God hears our prayers and that truly nothing will be able to harm us. As Christians we will find rejection inside of this world, but with Christ we will always encounter love and mercy. It is at those moments, that can happen in a blink of an eye, were we lose the sight of Christ inside of our lives where we begin to allow serpents to tread upon us and allow ourselves to be harmed by our lack of faith.
For the past two weeks at daily Mass our first reading has come from the book of Genesis where we were told about Abraham who would become our Father in faith. One passage that we read concerned Abraham interceding on behalf of Sodom and Gomorrah in order that God in His just mercy would spare the righteous from destruction. In the sparing of destroying these cities on behalf of ten righteous people God is showing that He is just. At the same time He is offering all the sinful people of these cities an opportunity of turning towards His mercy. Eventually the righteous were removed and the justice of God was given to the people of Sodom and Gomorrah who were unwilling to open themselves to God's mercy. Christ states inside of today's Gospel that "it will more tolerable for Sodom on that day" then the town who did not listen to the message of the seventy-two. God's mercy is indeed just and may we therefore always turn ourselves towards it. Turning away from the serpents that we allow to tread upon us and away from our fear that we will be harmed.
On Friday our Holy Father, Pope Francis, released his first encyclical letter entitled "The Light of Faith." In this letter he writes: "Yet in the absence of light everything becomes confused; it is impossible to tell good from evil, or the road to our destination from other roads which take us in endless circles going nowhere." These words should speak to each of us as we are sent away from this Church to follow in the footsteps of the seventy-two. We must allow the light of Christ to enter into each of our lives to keep us away from the darkness of sin and the despair that comes with it. Trusting in Christ our lives will not become circles going nowhere, but instead will be given meaning. We will then be able to love the things of this world as they truly are because we will see the value that we are given through Christ who proclaims to each of us that "The Kingdom of God is at hand."
In the Book of Isaiah we are told that "the Lord's power shall be known to his servants." This power shall be known by each of us who are called to continuously "tread upon serpents" and trust "that nothing will harm us." This power will be known by all who listen to the Gospel message of Christ and allow themselves to return to His mercy. This power will be known by each of us who join in the mission of the seventy-two who went into the world to proclaim the Gospel message by their words and their lives. May we realize that in being sent out in this manner that we are not being left alone. Even the seventy-two were sent in pairs and so we are joined by the Church, the sacraments, and the saints especially the intercession of the Blessed Mother. If we go into this abundant harvest alone we will become lost, but as long as we remain grounded in the life of the Church we will be given the assistance necessary to remain on the correct path.
Each of us here are made up of our own imperfections, but Christ Has called each of us to Him as He called the twelve apostles and the seventy-two disciples despite their own imperfections. If we can remain steadfast in Christ we will be strengthen as these apostles and disciples were in their ability to "tread upon serpents" and in their faith that nothing would harm them. May we depart from this Church trusting inside of this knowledge as we place our trust within Christ's infinite mercy and bring the Gospel message into the world glorifying the Lord by our life.
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