Some
years ago I was in a parish that was considered to be very poor and
backward. When people commented on this I tended to feel put down.
At present I am in a retreat house that is generally admired for many
reasons. I cannot help feeling good when I hear it praised. Of course,
I am the same person whether in the backward parish or in the beautiful
retreat house, yet I tend to take my self valuation from things that
are totally external to me.
A master observed this attitude
of being affected by externals in one of his students. He told him,
"tonight, go to the cemetery and curse and abuse the dead."
Next day he asked the student what happened when he cursed the dead
and he answered, "Nothing." Then he told him, "go back
to the cemetery tonight and bless and praise the dead." Next
day he asked the student what happened when he blessed the dead and
he answered. "Nothing." "Then go and become nothing"
he said to the student. No thing gives us our value: nothing external
should come between us and true joy which is something interior to
us.
In the Gospel that we read today
Jesus is warning the seventy two disciples about their attitudes as
he sends them out on mission. He tells them to travel light, to carry
no purse or sandals and not to dilly dally on the way. He is telling
us, through them, not to give importance to the baggage we bring,
the equipment, the diplomas, the signs of wealth or distinction that
mark us as having something that others have not. He knew well that
these things only divide people. The more we appear to excel the more
we make others ill-at-ease and the more we create jealous reactions.
On the other hand the more we are conscious of and accepting of our
own limits the more we find uniting us with others and the more we
leave space in which to love and be loved by others.
When the disciples came back
it is clear that they did not get his message. "Lord," they
said, "even the devils submit to us when we use your name."
They became intoxicated by the external signs of their power. In their
insecurity they grabbed at the external signs and felt that they gained
prestige from them. Their value was in these possessions. But Jesus
put them back on track by telling them, "Do not rejoice because
the spirits submit to you: rejoice rather that your names are written
in heaven." To have one's name written in heaven, to be close
to the Lord is what is important. External manifestations are not
important.
