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.