Sunday Reflection with Canon Robin Gibbons: July 6th 2025

Duccio di Buoninsegna

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
A hidden problem in faith

On the whole, most of us who are involved with the Church in a committed manner, are able to cope with the vagaries of Christian life and when in difficulty find friends or spiritual guides to help us sort out the problems.

But there is a real hidden problem with religion and faith, when we start counting the success stories of a denomination or Church, such as the number of converts, or 'miracle' events associated with its practices of devotion as fundamentally important.

You have only to look into our present day social media to see all kinds of curious tales and miracle stories from all kinds of religious persons, whose statements purport to prove that the faith they represent is absolutely true as though faith is some kind of game show in which we gain prizes.

We need to be cautious of any kind of superior attitude in faith, it leads to arrogance, which is never the teaching of Jesus, for he only asks us to take on the gift of humility, to be actively merciful, to love and to follow Him. He does not promise us success.

True joy is found in our relationship with God

It is always good to remind ourselves of these kind of challenging teachings of Jesus, such as his words in this Sunday's gospel from Luke 10:20, "Notwithstanding, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

If you are curious about his meaning we might explain it to ourselves in this way; what Jesus is trying to tell us is that the true and lasting joy he has promised comes from our faith and relationship with God, not from any power or success story experienced in ministry or earthly achievements.

Jesus' teachings encourage all of us who believe in him to search for, and find, their ultimate security and joy in the path of the gospel, that journey which helps us discern and seek the Kingdom that is to come, rather than place our trust in any temporary gifts or abilities we possess. In other words we are being given a very big hint that the virtue of humility, the humble and contrite heart , is the measuring stick of the gospel, not in our popularity, nor in reverencing people by putting them on a pedestal, as though they are the oracles of God. We are certainly told by Jesus not to trust in the faux piety of others which is so self referential, such as the so called prosperity gospel movement which equates money with blessings but trust in God and seek for the Kingdom by making the beatitudes our guide.

We are the people of the Cross of Christ

Paul in his letter to the Galatians gives us a good mantra to follow when he shares with us this insight;' But may I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which* the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.'(Gal 5:14) Immediately any kind of pride (that includes boasting) is soaked up in the kenosis of Christ, who humbled himself to become like us , and by sharing our life and death gives us through his supreme sacrifice, the cross , a device of torture and execution, which is transformed into the symbol of self-giving love.

This is why the gospel this Sunday is not measuring any success by the number converts to the Good News. Jesus uses images that are stark, those sent to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom are going out like lambs amongst wolves. They are to work hard, for the harvest is potentially great but labourers are few. Success is not the reward here but the sowing of seed in the hearts and lives of those they meet to be harvested by others, but it will not always be easy for rejection of the message and the messenger will be part of the mission. This Jesus tells us, does not bode well for the communities that reject his Word openly, though that does not mean they cannot or will not repent, their message unless it is of Christ, is not ours and must be discarded.

We might identify with the seventy-two disciples who come back to Jesus rejoicing at an apparent success story in mission, only to discover that our conception of what constitutes a success story is not the same as the Christs! If anything this story of preparation for mission should put us on our guard against any comparison with our own societies measurement of prosperity; wealth, a thriving lifestyle, and triumphant attitude! We are to be wary of these things!

And we need to be very aware of the public face of Christianity, because we can do great good or harm by our words and example. I make no apology for illustrating this by one statement quoted a lot this week. This shows me how much we can be corrupted in our values, anaesthetised to the compassion of Jesus, if we do not put his commands first.

President Trump was openly quoted as refusing to speak to the Minnesota Governor Tim Walz in the wake of last weekend's shootings that killed a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband, and injured another. He did condemn the shootings, but the following statement he made, small as it might seem, stuck out in my mind as an almost unconscious example of much that is wrong in our contemporary business driven, competitive and 'success' led societal structures. The President said this: "I think the governor of Minnesota is so whacked out. I'm not calling him. Why would I call him?" Trump told reporters on Air Force One. "The guy doesn't have a clue. He's a mess. So I could be nice and call him, but why waste time?"

Unfortunately what we have to take away from this is negative almost throw away comment lies in the contrast between the words 'nice' and 'waste time' with the values they represent. In a situation of pain, grief and death we are asked to be empathetic no matter what. Jesus would never say that we cannot waste time by not seeing somebody. He tells us that we have to waste time positively, and be nice-in that real sense of loving charity, with all those who need us, particularly those who are the face and person of the Lord around us. Those who are our sisters and brothers, the poor, the unloved, the mourners, the sick and elderly, and all the suffering little ones of our world. I am not making any comment about the President himself just on those unfortunate words spoken in public and now in the public domain, which seem to have been strangely acceptable to too many people but not to all.

Standing up for the `Spirit's gift of wasting time with others, that is by being kind, nice, generous and loving without seeking reward is the challenge of this Sundays gospel. The value of the Kingdom of God is about justice, righteousness and the example of the kind- niceness of God found in the person of Jesus the Christ who consoles us just as we ought to console and care for others, whose humble approach is our back pack! After all, Jesus said "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."(Jn 13:35)

Lectio

Pope Francis:

"The Way of the Cross alone defeats sin, evil and death, for it leads to the radiant light of Christ's resurrection and opens the horizons of a new and fuller life. It is the way of hope, the way of the future. Those who take up this way with generosity and faith give hope and a future to humanity."

Address at Via Crucis in Blonia Park, Krakow, Poland, July 30, 2016

Pope Francis
November 2019

"Where is God if evil is present in our world, if there are men and women who are hungry and thirsty, homeless, exiles and refugees?" he asked. "Where is God when innocent persons die as a result of violence, terrorism and war?"

"These are questions that, humanly speaking, have no answer," Pope Francis said.

"We can only look to Jesus and ask him. And Jesus' answer is this: 'God is in them.' Jesus is in them; he suffers in them and deeply identifies with each of them. He is so closely united to them as to form with them, as it were, 'one body.'