26th Week in Ordinary Time

1st Reading: Bar 4:5–12, 27–29
Gospel: Lk 10:17–24
The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”
At that time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to the little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. I have been given all things by my Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see but did not, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”

Commentary
There are three themes intertwined in today’s text: joy, salvation, and the sovereignty of God. Jesus urged the disciples to find their joy in their salvation, not in their authority over the demons. Then, Jesus expressed his own deep joy with them, based upon the sovereignty of God in the salvation of humankind, and in the part he was to play in this salvation. And he turned the disciples’ attention to the saints of old, who yearned to see God’s salvation, but were not privileged to see what the disciples were seeing. Jesus’ response to the enthusiasm and joy of the disciples was warm and affirming. While their joy may have been misplaced, they were not rebuked.
Christ always resisted the proud and given grace to the humble. All our victories over evil are obtained by power derived from Christ, and He must have all the praise. The more dependent we are on the help and blessings of Christ, the more we shall know of God. The more we see the glory and hear the words of Christ, the more useful we shall become in promoting His cause.

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