From the Pastor
Fr. Mike Comer shares his thoughts on Scripture, spirituality and the challenges of living the Gospel.
be light for the world
July 6, 2025
In the Gospel for this Sunday, we hear of the Seventy-Two whom Jesus appoints and sends out on mission. These seem to be in addition to the Twelve. Jesus is preparing a much larger Church than we sometimes imagine, training them to go out two-by-two to the various towns and villages, usually as His advance team, to get the people ready for one of His large healing and speaking events.
The Jesus movement, which will eventually become the Church, actually seemed to include thousands of His followers. This is why He was considered so dangerous. If He had told His disciples to take up arms and to rebel against Rome, that would be a very real crisis. Jesus did have enough of a following to make up a significant army.
Of course, we know that He was not preaching violent revolution, but a revolution of love, that was intended to bring about the Kingdom of God. Even the Apostles kept expecting that He would eventually reverse tactics and call for a violent rebellion. They could not imagine how you could overturn evil except by violence.
Sadly, even now, Jesus’ disciples seem to believe that it is only by war that evil will be defeated. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who did get it, said, “Returning hate for hate only multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Hatred cannot drive out hatred, only love can do that.”
The Jesus movement, which will eventually become the Church, actually seemed to include thousands of His followers. This is why He was considered so dangerous. If He had told His disciples to take up arms and to rebel against Rome, that would be a very real crisis. Jesus did have enough of a following to make up a significant army.
Of course, we know that He was not preaching violent revolution, but a revolution of love, that was intended to bring about the Kingdom of God. Even the Apostles kept expecting that He would eventually reverse tactics and call for a violent rebellion. They could not imagine how you could overturn evil except by violence.
Sadly, even now, Jesus’ disciples seem to believe that it is only by war that evil will be defeated. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who did get it, said, “Returning hate for hate only multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Hatred cannot drive out hatred, only love can do that.”
The passage that we read today includes instructions from Jesus about how the Seventy-Two were to carry out their mission. This included the message they were to proclaim and what supplies they should carry, and how to greet the people they encounter.
—Fr. Mike Comer
—Fr. Mike Comer
