13 June 2027 · Syro-Malankara Rite
Open in the Daily Word appAlso: മലയാളം
“Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20
In the evening Gospel the Lord appoints seventy others and sends them ahead of him in pairs to every town he means to visit. Before he gives them any instruction about what to do, he tells them what to pray for: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Mission begins on our knees. The harvest belongs to the Lord, and so do the laborers.
Then comes a strange commission: “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” No purse, no bag, no sandals. They are to enter a house and say first, “Peace to this house!” They heal the sick and announce that the kingdom of God has come near. The messenger carries so little so that the message may be seen clearly: the power is God's, not ours. And the Lord binds himself to these poor messengers: “Whoever listens to you listens to me.”
In the Gospel of the Qurbono the seventy come back full of joy: “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” Jesus answers, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning.” Yet he turns their joy to a deeper source: do not rejoice that spirits submit to you, “but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Success in ministry passes; belonging to God remains. A catechist, a choir member, a priest, a parent who prays with the children: the deepest joy of each is not what they achieve but that God knows them by name.
The other readings fill out the picture. At Jericho the walls fall not by siege engines but by obedience, procession and the sound of the priests' trumpets: “the LORD has given you the city.” In Acts the apostles hand the daily service of the tables to seven men “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” so that they may give themselves to prayer and to serving the word, and “the word of God continued to spread.” St Paul reminds the Corinthians that the cup we bless and the bread we break are a sharing in the Blood and Body of Christ; because there is one bread, we who are many are one body. The Church is sent out from the altar.
Theme: “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
The Lord sends out the seventy: mission begins with prayer, travels light, serves the word and the table, and finds its joy in belonging to God.
“Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”” Isaiah 6:8
“He said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”” Luke 10:2
Apply: Each day this week pray for one priest, one religious and one young person who may be called.
“And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout! For the LORD has given you the city.”” Joshua 6:16
“Whatever house you enter, first say, “Peace to this house!”” Luke 10:5
Apply: When you enter a home this week, bless it silently: Peace to this house.
“Thus says the LORD: As the wine is found in the cluster, and they say, “Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,” so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.” Isaiah 65:8
“Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task, while we, for our part, will devote ourselves to prayer and to serving the word.” Acts 6:3–4
Apply: Offer one hour of service to your parish this month: catechism, choir, the sick or the poor.
“O LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill?” Psalm 15:1
“Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:20
Apply: Thank God tonight that he knows you by name.
The harvest is the Lord's; pray, go in peace, and serve.
Our deepest joy is that God has written our names in heaven.
Take-home resolution: Prepare now for the Apostles' Fast from 16 June: daily prayer for vocations and for the Church's mission.
Dear brothers and sisters, before Jesus sent out the seventy, he did not give them money or maps. He gave them a prayer: “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Every vocation in the Church begins with someone praying. Somebody prayed for the priest who baptised you. Somebody is praying today for the priest who will one day anoint you.
Then Jesus said: “See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” No purse, no bag, no sandals. They were to enter a house and first say, “Peace to this house!” Why so poor? So that people would see that the peace and the healing come from God, not from the messenger. Jericho fell not by weapons but by prayer and obedience. The Church grows the same way.
In Acts the apostles chose seven men full of the Spirit and of wisdom to serve the tables, so that the apostles could give themselves to prayer and to the word. Every service in the parish matters: the one who teaches catechism, the one who cleans the church, the one who visits the sick. All of it is the work of the harvest. And all of it flows from the altar, where the one bread makes us one body.
The seventy came back rejoicing: even the demons obey us! Jesus said: rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven. Successes come and go; our name in the heart of God remains. This week, pray every day for vocations, bless the houses you enter with the peace of Christ, and prepare for the Apostles' Fast that begins on Wednesday. Amen.
Children, Jesus sent seventy friends to visit many towns. He told them to take no bag and no money, only his peace.
When they entered a house they said: “Peace to this house!” You can say that too, quietly in your heart, when you go into a house.
The friends came back very happy. Jesus said: be happy most of all because God knows your name in heaven. He knows your name too!
Lord of the harvest, you sent the seventy ahead of you in poverty and peace. Send laborers into your harvest today: priests, religious, catechists and families who announce your kingdom. Make us one body through the one bread we share, give us your peace to carry into every house, and let our deepest joy be that our names are written in heaven. Amen.