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Gospel: Luke 10: 1-12
Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples
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.
Whatever town you enter and they welcome you,
eat what is set before you,
cure the sick in it and say to them,
‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’
Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you,
go out into the streets and say,
‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet,
even that we shake off against you.’
Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand.
I tell you,
it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day
than for that town.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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At the age of 24, Saint Thérèse of Lisieux lay on her deathbed holding a crucifix.
Her five final words were: My God, I love you!
That simple gesture of confessing her love for Christ while clinging to a crucifix is key to understanding her spirituality.
Thérèse believed that no action was extraordinary in itself; on the surface, there’s nothing profound about speech or clutching a crucifix, even from one’s deathbed.
What is profound is the love behind those actions. She loved God as Christ has commanded – with all of her mind, heart, body, and soul.
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A 20th century Saint later adopted Thérèse’s name and spirituality. We know her today as Mother Teresa.
Like Thérèse, Mother Teresa spent her life doing ordinary things with extraordinary love: clothing the naked, feeding the poor, washing the wounds of lepers, clutching people in her arms as they died of disease or starvation.
Each person, she said, was “Christ is distressing disguise.”
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So, what might Thérèse say to us today?
Most of our days are filled with ordinary tasks: take the kids to school, care for an aging spouse or parent, break bread at the dinner table, visit the sick.
Or, in my case, celebrate the Sacraments.
There may be nothing profound about these actions in themselves. What can be profound is the love with which we do them.
May all that we do reflect Thérèse’s great profession of faith, My God – and by extension, my neighbor – I love you!
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Image credits: (1) Christina Chase (2) Congregation of Holy Cross (3) Calling Couples to Christ