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"Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad because of her, all you who love her; exult, exult with her, all you who were mourning over her!" (Is 66:10)
Looking at the first two readings for this Sunday our attention turns to two great Christian themes, which can seem paradoxical: Christian joy and the cross of Christ. At first glance the two readings seem to place us on an emotional roller coaster. In the first reading the prophet Isaiah speaks of rejoicing, joy, delight, comfort, and so forth. And then all of that suddenly comes to an end with St. Paul's sobering words about the cross, being crucified, and "bearing the marks of Jesus on my body." What is going on? What is the relationship between the two readings? Before seeking an answer to our question let's look at what is taking place in today's Gospel. Here we see Jesus sending out 36 pairs of disciples to every town and place He planned to visit. The disciples were to prepare the people for Jesus' coming; announcing to every town that the "kingdom of God is at hand for you." Or in other words, God is visiting His people. Jesus gives the disciples several instructions, but He makes particular reference to two different scenarios: what the disciples are to do if a town welcomes them, and what to do if a town refuses to welcome them. It is clear therefore that the disciples are going to have to face obstacles and rejection. The mission they are being sent out on will be a test for their faith, and will require courage and perseverance.
In a way this relatively brief mission on which the 72 disciples are sent seems to be a glimpse of the future missionary life and work of the Church - embodied in a special way in St. Paul. As we all know, St. Paul was to spend his life traveling and proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus - and at great personal cost. No one can express just how much it cost him better than St. Paul himself: "Five times at the hands of the Jews I received forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked...on frequent journeys....in toil and hardship, through many sleepless nights, through hunger and thirst, through frequent fastings, through cold and exposure." (2 Cor 11:24-17) We can see how St. Paul could claim in today's second reading that he had been crucified to the world and the world to him, and how he bore in his own body the marks and sufferings of Christ Himself. But there is something more - which brings us to the heart of our paradox of joy and suffering.
In the second reading Paul speaks about boasting in the cross of Christ, and immediately afterward he speaks about "a new creation". So he draws a connection between the cross of Christ and being "a new creation". St. Paul had been transformed deep within by the overwhelming experience of encountering Christ - this experience re-created him. The love of Christ, evident above all in His suffering on the cross, shaped St. Paul completely and became the joy and meaning of his life and missionary work - as he said at one point, "the love of Christ impels us, once we have come to the conviction that one died for all...." (2 Cor 5:14) St. Paul is not a depressing figure - quite the opposite. He was a man fully alive. He discovered the meaning of life through his encounter with the living Christ, and he knew what it meant to be "a new creation". He was therefore ready to endure any suffering in proclaiming the kingdom of God if it meant others would experience the same joy of being re-created in Christ. Paul's joy came from Christ, but it grew as he labored to make Him known.
The joy, consolation, rejoicing, and delight in Jerusalem, which today's first reading speaks of through the imagery of a mother-son relationship, is something we will not experience in its fullness before we enter the heavenly Jerusalem (heaven). In another way, however, that image can also be an expression of the joy that comes from discovering one's identity and meaning in Christ, even amidst the various crosses of life. What is more, today's Gospel shows us we must proclaim this kingdom of God which we have found; we are called to proclaim this new life to those around us in creative ways. Jesus said that "the kingdom of God is within", and so it is from deep within us that each of us can discover what we can share about the kingdom of God with others. We can all make a contribution, and the world would be a better place if we began today.
(Photo of "St. Paul Shipwrecked" courtesy of Br. Lawrence Lew, O.P.)
