Shikrot Mpwi – Sunday Synopsis
Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk
Dear friends in Christ,
On the Fourteenth Sunday of Year C (6 July 2025), I bring prayers, peace, and blessings!
Theme: Beings Peace Makers
Introduction
With conflicts between Russia/Ukraine, Israel/Palestine, and Iran, our liturgy emphasises a New World Order anchored on truth, justice, peace, and global harmony. From the invitation to the remnant of Yahweh to rejoice because the Lord will send peace like a river to the glory of the nations, we navigate through Saint Paul’s promise of “peace and mercy” to those who embrace love and land safely at the port of the gospel where Jesus extends his power to seventy others in furtherance of his kingdom. With 407,872 priests in the world and a Catholic population of about 1.4 billion according to the Vatican, does the call of the 72/70 not invite us to reflect on the principle of subsidiarity and co-responsibility in terms of laity involvement in the Church?
Review of Readings
The first reading (Isaiah 66:10-14) invites the remnant of Yahweh to rejoice and be glad because the Lord will send peace and to glow like a river to the glory of the nations. With the metaphor of a mother spoiling a child from her consoling breasts, he assured that Israel will relish comfort even as the Lord reveals his saving hand.
In the second reading (Galatians 6:14-18), Saint Paul upturns the worldly order of discriminatory standards by proposing a new one anchored on a new creation. Paul promises “peace and mercy” to all who love genuinely – circumcision, colour, race, tribe, societal status, gender, and financial status do not matter.
The gospel (Luke 10:1-12,17-20) reveals that Jesus extended his power to seventy others in furtherance of his kingdom of truth, justice, and peace. Like John the Baptist, they were tasked with doing the groundwork of clearing before the master arrives. Since “the harvest is plentiful, but the labourers are few,” Jesus entrusted the sacred task of preaching, teaching, and sanctification of the world to the Church. Intending that everyone should make heaven, he charged them to say: “Peace be to this house.” The four kinds of dialogue outlined by the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in 1984 are woven into the lessons as recipes for a broken world.
Takeaway Lessons
- God’s promise of peace and prosperity to Israel in the first reading warns about the dangers of war but equally invites us to embrace the dialogue of life by striving “to live in an open and neighbourly spirit,” happily sharing space with others in the workplace, various institutions, and in the neighbourhood.
- St. Paul’s call to embrace a new creation with assurances of “peace and mercy” to all people of goodwill who work together assiduously for the common good encourages us to embrace dialogue of action by promoting peace, liberty, social justice, and moral values.
- By extending his power to seventy others, Jesus invites academics, experts, and theologians or religious leaders to engage in theological dialogue – meeting together to clarify issues and creating greater understanding in furtherance of God’s kingdom of truth, justice, and peace.
- Moved by the sacred task of preaching, teaching, and sanctification which Jesus entrusted to the Church, religious leaders are encouraged to embrace dialogue of religious experience through interfaith prayer sessions, mutual visits to places of worship, and joint reading of religious texts.
- Since peace cannot exist in an atmosphere of injustice, Christians, Jesus’ disciples in the secular realm, are urged to constantly explore avenues for engaging society headlong in the equitable distribution of the earth’s resources.
Conclusion
As vanguards of peace, we are challenged to be involved in ecumenical initiatives with our separated brethren and dialogue with Muslims and people of other faiths towards making the world a better live to live in. Someone has said, “Civilised people solve their problems through dialogue.” At whichever level, dialogue entails prayer and mutual respect for one another’s creed.
While conscious of Jesus’ warning, “I send you out like lambs amid wolves,” May St. Francis’ prayer for peace embolden us to be peacemakers.
Happy New Month. Have a blessed week ahead!
