Isaiah 66:10-14 is taken from Third Isaiah, written when the Jews had returned home after their exile in Babylon. God works in all sorts of unexpected ways, as he did when he inspired the Persian King Cyrus to release his people and even help them to rebuild their temple. It was a time of hope and blessing. Jerusalem is described as a nursing mother. The gospel contains the same message of hope, for the 72 disciples are told to relay the message: “The kingdom of God is very near to you.” All the synoptic gospels, including Luke, give an account of the mission of the apostles, but Luke in addition reports on that of the 72. The evangelists relate Jesus’s instructions to travel with no extra clothing or equipment and not to get distracted on the road. The message of the Good News must be their sole concern.
It would be interesting to know how the disciples conveyed their message. Relationships are all-important when the person of Jesus is to be made known. We all probably have examples of people in our lives who have brought us closer to the Lord by their influence. At the canonisation process of St Ignatius of Loyola in 1595, many people who had been children at the time testified with pride that they had learned what they knew of their religion from Padre Ignacio. One said: “He used to teach the prayers and the commandments and he often examined me, to see if I knew them.”
We pray that in our daily encounters we too will be bearers of the gospel message.