blessed Virgin Mary

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17

This was the answer Job gave to Yahweh: 

 I know that you are all powerful; no plan of yours can be thwart­ed.  I spoke of things I did not understand, too wonderful for me to know.

 My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.  Therefore I retract all I have said, and in dust and ashes I repent.  Yahweh blessed Job’s latter days much more than his earlier ones. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys.

 He was also blessed with seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Dove, the second Cinnamon, and the third Bottle of Perfume. Nowhere in the land was there found any woman who could compare in beauty with Job’s daughters. Their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

 Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. He died old and full of years.

 

Ps 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130

Lord, let your face shine on me.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 10:17-24

The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw ­Satan fall like lightning from heaven.

You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”

At that time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to the little ones. 

Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. I have been given all things by my Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

 Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see but did not, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

The labors of the missionary are many, often difficult, sometimes unrewarding. Always demanding. The devious angel of darkness, the devil, strives always to waylay the unwary missionary.

The devil can give false consolations to the weary missionary. The 72 disciples in today’s Gospel were being tempted to find joy in their “victories” In their brief mission. Jesus quickly cautions them and puts his new missionaries into the proper missionary spirit.

The true joy of the missionary is not in becoming “successful”but in being “faithful.”it is easy to be lured into becoming proud in the ministry as a result of accomplishments.

The fallen angel can lead seemingly successful missionaries into the sin of pride. Jesus reminds his new missionaries that true joy is in resting in intimacy with the One who sends, the Master.

True joy in the mission is about growth in personal communion with Jesus who reveals the mysteries of the kingdom to his faithful missionaries.