Lk 10:17-24
The seventy-two disciples returned full of joy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we called on your name.” Then Jesus replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. You see, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the Enemy, so that nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, don’t rejoice because the evil spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.”
At that time Jesus was filled with the joy of the Holy Spirit and said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and made them known to the little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. I have been given all things by my Father, so that no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and he to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said to them privately, “Fortunate are you to see what you see, for I tell you that many prophets and kings would have liked to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
REFLECTION
We have today a joyful Gospel: the joy of the seventy-two disciples and the joy of Jesus. Why this joy? We rejoice over the victory over Satan in the announcement of the Kingdom of God by the disciples and in the heart of Jesus. However, the true joy is not in these miracles, but in the eternal salvation: ‘your names are written in heaven’.
We have then the deep joy of Jesus in the Holy Spirit, praising the Father since He willed to reveal ‘these things’ to the little ones, hiding it from the wise and learned. And ‘these things’ are the revelation of the mystery of Jesus’ person. In fact, only the Father knows the Son as his own eternal Son, and only the Son knows the Father, as his eternal Father. But the Son is now among us in his human flesh to reveal it in human words to the little ones. Isn’t this the door through which we guess the Holy Trinity since the mutual knowledge of the Father and the Son occurs in the joy of the Holy Spirit?
So, we are happy because we receive from Christ this revelation of God’s Life which will be the glorious joy of the Kingdom!
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