The joy of liberation
In the 2nd century before Christ, a prophet borrowing the name of Baruch makes Jerusalem speak a message of hope and joy to her scattered children in the Diaspora. God will liberate them from their infidelities.
In the Gospel, the disciples and Jesus with them, rejoice that people have been liberated from the power of evil in the name of Jesus.
Reading: Baruch 4:5-12,27-29
O Israel, be confident; fear not; never forget to keep Lady Wisdom in the front of your mind. Yes, you’ve been sold off to the nations, but to be purified, not destroyed.
You brought it on yourself by your infidelity; you were handed over to your adversaries because you exasperated him who made you.
What were you thinking, sacrificing to demons and idols who are no gods at all? You forgot the God who breast-fed you; you offended Jerusalem, the city that nourished you.
The holy city saw wrathful clouds coming across the skies toward you; she said as much to you: “Listen to me, neighbors of Zion; God has brought great grief upon me. “I saw my own sons and daughters marched off into captivity; it was a penalty slapped on them by the Eternal One.
“It was a great joy to bring them up; it was a great grief to let them go. “Let no one rejoice in my sorrow; I’m a widow now, and all my friends have left me. “I’m a city with no children; they sinned and have paid the price for it. “Keep the faith, my children, and cry out to God. He’ll surely remember you, and he’ll rescue you on his own timetable. “Remember, with no effort at all you willingly wandered off from God; now make ten times the effort to get back to him. “Eventually, he who sent you into exile will bring you home to me, to my eternal joy.”
Gospel: Luke 10:17-24
The seventy came back triumphant. “Master, even the demons danced to your tune!”
Jesus said, “I know. I saw Satan fall, a bolt of lightning out of the sky. See what I’ve given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you. All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God’s authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you—that’s the agenda for rejoicing.”
At that, Jesus rejoiced, exuberant in the Holy Spirit. “I thank you, Father, Master of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the know-it-alls and showed them to these innocent newcomers. Yes, Father, it pleased you to do it this way.
“I’ve been given it all by my Father! Only the Father knows who the Son is and only the Son knows who the Father is. The Son can introduce the Father to anyone he wants to.”
He then turned in a private aside to his disciples. “Fortunate the eyes that see what you’re seeing! There are plenty of prophets and kings who would have given their right arm to see what you are seeing but never got so much as a glimpse, to hear what you are hearing but never got so much as a whisper.”
Prayer
Lord, our God and Father,
your Son sent out his disciples
to set people free from the demons
that held them captive.
We pray that we too,
may become liberated,
free from the blindness and determinism and fears
that obscure our minds and hearts,
free from our infidelities
and our lack of courage to commit ourselves,
free to love and to serve
with him who set us free from sin,
Jesus Christ, our Lord for ever. Amen.
