Tuesday June 13, 2023

Luke 10:1-9

In today’s Gospel, our Lord sends out 72 others to every place he intended to visit. His instructions to them are to bring peace and announce that the kingdom of God is near.

(1) Bring Peace

(2) Announce God’s Kingdom is near

(3) Don’t mess this up but if you do, try again.

The greeting in Arabic and really in Kiswahili is this “Salam Aleichum” or simply “Salam.” Is the Lord simply asking us to greet someone with a smile and not to burden them? Is this the mission? Go greet everyone. Acknowledge them!!! Let them know someone sees them, sees their struggle. Just find the time to say hello. Secondly remind them that God is here.

You know the 72 are never mentioned by name and we do not know if Jesus followed up and visited every person these 72 met. But one of them found himself in Zambia. And that message of Gods nearness reached my ears. I in turn say to you as well. God is much closer to you than you think. May the troubles and riches of the world make you think otherwise.