In the Bible, we hear that Luke was the only one with St Paul when he was feeling deserted, so Paul asked for some of his brothers to come be with them.  In the gospels, we hear the story of Jesus sending the 72 disciples in groups of two. Although Jesus himself spent many hours praying alone, he also longed for his disciples to be with him in his most trying times—in Gethsemane, and although most disciples abandoned him at Calvary, there were the women and John, faithful till the end. How grateful he must have been not to face his greatest trial alone.

We also feel abandoned at times, and even though many of us are very independent people and even take pride in that (I know I do) sometimes we need companionship, both human and, most of all, God’s companionship. Sometimes it is hard to ask for help—we can do it ourselves. Americans, in particular, tend to pride themselves on autonomy, what one of my fellow students in grad school called, the “John Wayne mentality.” But when we call on our fellow human beings, we are seldom ignored. When we call on God, we are never ignored! Even if God doesn’t answer in our time or perhaps not in the way we want to be answered. 

I know that during my long, long recovery from a very mild case of Covid several years ago, I felt alone a lot. I varied from day to day, putting my trust in God and thinking about the trials of Job and how minor my sense of abandonment was one day; and then the next day shaking my fist at God, like Tevya in Fidler on the roof, “Come on God, how long is going to take you to answer me?” But on the days when I listened for God, and talked to Jesus, I realized how grateful I was for my friends who picked up groceries and medicine for me, who drove me to doctor appointments, and who checked in on me some every day, and most importantly who brought me the Eucharist, and came to anoint me.

One of my assignments in grad school was to watch the movie, Silence, about the Jesuit priests who were tortured and forced to deny their faith in order to save other Christians who were being tortured and put to death for being Christians in 17^th century Japan. It is a rather violent, but gut-wrenching portrayal of what these Jesuits, went through for the sake of the Gospel. Like the 72 who were sent 2 by 2, the Jesuits were sent together to aid and comfort each other. Although Padre Rodrigues’ companion lost his life while trying to save the Japanese Christians, the two companions had comforted and sometimes challenged each other. Like Padre Rodrigues and the other Jesuits that were sent to Japan, I found I can learn and take strength from the gospel reading I mentioned earlier. And I hope you do too. 

In that reading, Jesus told his disciples to take nothing with them. How many of us tend to overpack when we prepare for a journey--physically, mentally, and even spiritually. Because I travelled so much for my work in the days before Zoom and Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts, I can now travel for a week with a carry-on bag because I’ve learned to pack light from traveling so much. But how much emotional and spiritual “baggage” do we take with us into the world? And how much baggage to we pick up from the world? 

Jesus told his disciples to stay in one place and to greet all they meet in peace. If a peaceful person lives there, “your peace will rest on them.” If not, “your peace will return to you.” Most of all, they were told by Jesus to let the people they met know that “the reign of God is near.” The Jesuits in Japan did not find the peace they offered accepted by most of the people they met, but I have to believe it returned to them despite the seemingly unpeaceful life they were forced to live.

Jesus sent his disciples in pairs, to help reap the rich harvest that awaits. “I am sending you like lambs among wolves.”  What does this mean for us? Sometimes when we go out to evangelize the world, we will meet lambs, sometimes bighorn sheep, and sometimes wolves or coyotes. But we are asked to bless all we meet with the peace of Jesus. We, like those 72, are called to reap the harvest—it’s there—waiting for us. Are we ready to reap the harvest—to bring others to God, as the 72 were called to do? Yes, it may be difficult at times, but, with the help of Jesus, we can do it! 

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