| Second Timothy
4:9-17
Psalms 145:10-13, 17-18 Luke 10:1-9 When I read the Scriptures, I try to place myself in the setting and then reflect on what the meaning of the message is for me. In the above Gospel, I see Jesus preparing the apostles and disciples for their work in the world. He sends them out in pairs: �The Lord appointed a further seventy-two and sent them in pairs before him to every town and place he intended to visit�.�� ��Into whatever city you go, after they welcome you, eat what they set before you, and cure the sick there. Say to them, �The reign of God is at hand�.�� When I look at my life and try to discern what that means for my husband and me, I reflect on what we try to do on weekends. Bill and I try to keep Sunday holy in a special way. We do the following: 1) take care of my dad, who is 93 years old, on every Sunday afternoon; 2) visit people in the hospital; 3) visit people who are convalescing at home; 4) connect up with relatives� lives and their challenges and opportunities. In this Gospel reading � if we are to take the message into our lives, it says: ��cure the sick there.� When we visit the sick or work with our elders, we do not cure them � unless our visit or work shows them that they are �special human beings� and the visit takes away a little of the their loneliness and depression. All my dad asks is ��just to get out of the house for a few hours�and get some good food. The second part of Jesus� exhortation is: �Say to them, �The reign of God is at hand�.�� Bill and I don�t engage in God-Talk, but we do try to bring humor with us. Bill is a tall full-blooded Irishman who always has something unexpected up his sleeve. I could tell you many a story about his visits with people in the hospital, etc�. What a grace he has within him�to make people laugh. Somehow I believe that humor and that special Irish twinkle in his eyes has �healing� connected with it�Maybe the reign of God is present�right there�in the laughter. So that�s our Sundays; that�s how we see the Scripture speaking within our lives. Sundays always have lessons-for-life immersed in them.
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