Between Jerusalem and Rome
The Readings of the Fourteenth Sunday of the Year especially grab our attention. In the First, we see Isaiah’s colourful imagery involving Jerusalem (Is 66: 10-14); in the Second, we have St Paul’s passionate testimony (Gal 6: 14-18) based on his life experience in the Roman Empire; and in the Third, Jesus exhorts His disciples to travel to the ends of the world (Lk 10: 1-12, 17-20).
With the goings-on in Israel, however, can we legitimately ‘rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her’? Must we love her at all? Regardless of the present conflict in the region (pushed by the modern State of Israel, which is not the biblical Israel), we ought to love Jerusalem as the cradle of Christianity and the city where Our Lord lived, died, and rose. Therefore, the Church favours a two-nation solution to the Israel-Palestine imbroglio and an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem, with access to the holy places guaranteed.
For his part, the Jewish Prophet Isaiah is an integral part of our Christian heritage. His colourful images come alive even for us who have long looked to Rome for spiritual inspiration. Rome is the centre of the Catholic Church, the seat of the Papacy, and the location of Vatican City, an independent city-state, albeit surrounded by the city of Rome. The Church prays for the conversion of Israel, specifically for the Jewish people to acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Messiah. All this makes the reference to Jerusalem all the more significant.
Of course, with Jesus, it became clear that salvation is not the preserve of the Jewish people. No doubt, it was first proclaimed to them. Jesus spoke first to the Twelve (see Lk 9), and then to the Seventy-two. Knowing that the Jewish officialdom would not take forward the divine mission, Jesus empowered His disciples to do so.[1] They went before Him to several places and ‘returned with joy’. And then, not only did Peter go to Rome and Paul journey through the Roman Empire, but Thomas came as far as India and died there.
A fragment of today’s Gospel text rings in the ear of every Christian: ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few.’ He set them out ‘as lambs amid wolves’, anticipating trials and tribulations in a hostile world. Yet, He bid them to ‘carry no purse, no bag, no sandals, and to salute none along the way.’ They were not to waste time in elaborate greetings, so typical of Oriental cultures, but to focus on announcing the Good News without delay.
Furthermore, the disciples were to eat, drink, and accept accommodation as provided to them, ‘for the labourer deserves his wages’; but they were not to have great expectations or make demands. God would sustain them. They had to reach out to the sick physically and spiritually, giving them the hope of eternal salvation. Divine Master gave His disciples practical tips, management skills infused with psychological and spiritual principles! It is no wonder that Vatican diplomacy possesses unique strengths and commands respect.
St Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles, who witnessed crises in the communities he tended and overcame them, concludes his Letter to the Galatians as follows: ‘I do not wish to take pride in anything except in the Cross of Christ Jesus our Lord.’ So, it is not circumcision or uncircumcision but the Cross of Christ that matters for our salvation. This is a big eye-opener. We ought not to sacrifice the truth of the Gospel to materialistic values and goals, something that even those in authority sometimes do. We must hold steadfast to the divine message.
So, whether in Jerusalem, in Rome, or at home, we must strive to be true disciples of Christ, the salt of the earth and light of the world.
[1] How many did Jesus commission? Some codices say 70, others 72; both figures are correct, as they represent the pagan communities (70 in the Hebrew text, 72 in the Greek) mentioned in Genesis 10. St Luke is the only Evangelist who mentions this number, suggesting that Jesus would not limit Himself to the twelve tribes of Israel (denoted by the Apostles) but would reach out to all communities and nations.
