Luke 10

Luke 10:1

JESUS SENDS FORTH HIS SEVENTY-TWO DISCIPLES

[Luke 10: 1-24. Compare Mat. 10: 1-27]

ON His journey from Galilee to Judæa, Jesus selected from among His followers seventy-two, whom He called disciples¹, that they might assist² the twelve apostles in the work of the ministry. He sent them forth two by two, saying: “He that heareth you³, heareth Me, and He that despiseth you, despiseth Me; and he that despiseth Me, despiseth Him that sent Me.”

A short time after, the seventy-two returned to Him, rejoicing, and saying that even the demons were subject to them. Jesus, fearing that they might become vain of the power that was given them, said: “I saw Satan, as lightning, falling from heaven. Rejoice not because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice in this, that your names are written in the Book of Life.”

Then, rejoicing with them, He prayed: “I give thanks to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones!“⁴

¹ Disciples. To distinguish them from the apostles, who held a higher rank and greater power.

² Assist. Because, as Christ said: “The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth labourers into His vineyard.”

³ Heareth you. He that listens to and accepts what you say. ⁴ Little ones. i. e. the lowly, the humble, the unlearned. — XLII. THE DOCTOR OF THE LAW.—THE GOOD SAMARITAN. COMMENTARY.

The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. From this chapter we see how our Lord gradually traced the outlines of the Hierarchy of the Church, i. e. of the higher and lower orders of sacred ministers. There we have Peter, the Apostles, the disciples and the faithful; here we have the Pope, the Bishops, the Priests with Deacons, Subdeacons and four minor orders and the faithful.

Prayer to God to send more labourers into His vineyard. Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, desires us to pray to Him to send more labourers, i. e. more bishops and priests, and this not only for our own sakes, but for the multitude of our fellow men, who are still unbelievers. He alone, by His grace, can raise up true apostolic labourers for His vineyard. This prayer is very necessary. Even many Catholic countries are in sad want of priests; but, setting aside this want, the majority of men in this world are either heathens (of whom there are about 700,000,000) or Mahometans (of whom there are about 150,000,000). Only 250,000,000 belong to the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church: for out of those who claim to be Christians, 80,000,000 belong to the Greek schismatical Church, and about 90,000,000 to the various Protestant sects. The harvest is indeed still great, and the number of Catholic priests and missionaries small in proportion.

Our Lord sent out His disciples two and two 1. so that they could bear witness to the miracles wrought. “In the law it is written that the testimony of two men is true” (John 8, 17), and therefore men would more readily believe the word of two together than of one alone. 2. That they might practise mutual love and unity of spirit, and be thus better able to preach the Gospel of love and peace.

APPLICATION. You ought to pray to God, especially at the four Ember seasons when the ordinations take place, to send forth labourers into His harvest

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Luke 10:18

MARY AND MARTHA

[Luke 10, 18-19]

HAVING returned to Judæa and being on His way to Jerusalem, Jesus entered a certain town named Bethania¹, at a short distance from Jerusalem, where he was kindly entertained by two pious sisters, named Martha and Mary². Now Mary sat down at our Saviour’s feet, and listened attentively to the words of wisdom which fell from His divine lips. Martha, on the other hand, busied herself with preparing the repast.

Martha, then, seeing that she had to do all the work, complained to our Saviour and said: “Lord, hast Thou no care³ that my sister has left me alone to serve? Speak to her, therefore, that she help me.” But Jesus answered: “Martha! Martha! Thou

¹ Bethania. See Map. Bethania was on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives.

² Martha and Mary. They lived with their brother, Lazarus. All three believed in and loved our Lord, and therefore He used to stay in their house with His disciples.

³ Hast Thou no care: Martha’s words betray her impatience with our Lord as well as with her sister Mary. In her joy at our Lord’s visit she wished everyone to be occupied in providing Him with the best things that could be procured; and it was inconceivable to this busy Martha that her sister could sit quietly at the feet of Jesus, while in her opinion there was more work to be done than could be got through. Her speech sounded very like a reproach to Mary for what she considered to be want of thought.

— XLIII. MARY AND MARTHA.

art careful and troubled about many things! one thing only is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part¹, which shall not be taken away from her.”

COMMENTARY.

The Love of God. The story of the Good Samaritan gave us an example of the love of our neighbour. In Martha and Mary we have a model of the true love of God. Both sisters loved our Divine Lord, but they showed their love in different ways. Mary was all absorbed, listening to and meditating on His words; and, carried out of herself by her love of Him, she forgot everything else. Martha, on the other hand, was taken up with active work in His service, and could only think of how she might most perfectly minister to His wants. Martha spent herself in her efforts to prepare food for our Lord, while Mary was entirely occupied in being fed by Him. We can and we ought to learn lessons from both sisters. Like Martha we ought to do our best to fulfil the duties of our state of life; but we should not, on this account, neglect to hear and meditate on the divine word. “These things you ought to have done, and not leave those undone” (Mat. 23, 23). Pray and work!

Works of mercy. We cannot, as Martha did, minister to the wants of our Lord Himself, but we can and ought to minister to Him in the person of His brethren, the poor and the sick; for whatever we do for these we do for Him (chapter LXIII).

The one thing needful. Men are taken up with a multitude of busy occupations, and yet a great many of these are quite unnecessary. There is, however, one occupation absolutely necessary and indispensable for each one of us, namely, to love God and to care for our salvation. To save our souls and to win heaven is the highest and last end, to which every other object must give way. Christian self-love consists in caring for the salvation of our souls before all things.

Our Lady the perfect Mary and Martha. Mary, the Mother of God, all her life through practised most perfectly those virtues for which

¹ The best part. By His answer our Lord took Mary’s part, and at the same time gently reproved Martha for being too entirely taken up by business. “You are too much occupied with a number of things.” He meant to say: “whereas there is only one thing which is worth all this anxiety, for there is only one thing which is absolutely necessary. You are indeed doing a good work by seeking to minister to My wants, but your sister has chosen the better part in listening to My teaching, and feeding her soul with My divine words. Her undivided attention to the things of God shall not be taken away from her, for the contemplation of what is divine and the Vision of God are the eternal inheritance of the Saints in heaven.” The one thing necessary, of which our Lord spoke, is the work of salvation. Jesus does not blame Martha for working, but because she worked in a restless and uneasy state of mind.

— XLIV. JESUS THE GOOD SHEPHERD.

each of the two sisters was distinguished. From her childhood she had attended to “the one thing needful”; and for thirty years she ministered to our Lord’s personal wants, most wonderfully combining the active life with the contemplative life, working with her hands while her heart gazed on God. She was at the same time the Mother who had charge of her Son, and the disciple of that Son, treasuring all His words in her heart and imitating His life. On earth she chose the best part, and in heaven she attained to the best part, being crowned by her Divine Son as the Queen of all Saints. Hence we see why the Church has chosen this portion of Scripture for the Gospel on the Feast of our Lady’s Assumption into heaven.

APPLICATION. Are you industrious as Martha was, and pious like Mary? Are not your thoughts dissipated all day long? Think often about God in the course of the day, and offer your actions to Him. Do everything with God and for God.

Luke 10:25

THE DOCTOR OF THE LAW.—THE GOOD SAMARITAN

[Luke 10. 25. 17. Mat. 22. 33—40. Mark 12. 25—34]

AGAIN, when Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, He met a doctor of the law¹, who, hoping to tempt² our Lord, asked him, through curiosity: “Master, what must I do to possess eternal

¹ The doctors of the law, or scribes, were a body of men whose profession it was to preserve the written law, interpret it, and guard it from being falsified

² Tempt. He hoped to entrap our Lord into teaching some doctrine contrary to the law, or at any rate contrary to its received interpretation. Had he done so, the scribes would have been able to hold Him up as an enemy of the law.

— 556 XLII. THE DOCTOR OF THE LAW.—THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

life?” Jesus answered: “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” He replied: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.”

Jesus said to Him: “Thou hast answered right; this do, and thou shalt live.‘¹ But the doctor, wishing to justify² himself, said: “Who is my neighbour?”

Then Jesus replied with the Parable of the Good Samaritan:

“A certain man³ went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers⁴, who also stripped him; and having wounded him, went away, leaving him half-dead⁵. Now it happened that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him passed by. In like manner also a Levite⁶, when he was near the place, and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan, being on his journey, came near him, and seeing him, was moved with

¹ Thou shalt live. Or obtain eternal life.

² To justify. Our Lord told him to love his neighbour as himself. “This do, and thou shalt live.” The doctor evidently felt in his own heart that he had not properly and fully practised this command, and therefore he wished to justify himself by saying that it was a disputed point among the Jews as to who was their neighbour.

³ A certain man. Namely a Jew from Jerusalem.

⁴ Robbers. The road from Jerusalem to Jericho (Fig. 80, sec Map) is a very deserted one, and passes through deep defiles which, to this day, are infested by robbers.

⁵ Half-dead. They surrounded him, took from him all that he had, even his clothes, and because he offered resistance, wounded him so severely that he lay half-dead. He could not stir, and unless help came he must soon die.

⁶ A priest and a Levite. A Jewish priest, followed by his assistant, a Levite (Old Test, XXXIX). These two were returning from Jerusalem, where they had accomplished the time assigned to them for serving in the Temple, and were now on their way back to Jericho, of which town they were inhabitants. The poor despoiled man lay on the road, the blood pouring from his many wounds. He had become so weak that he could not even cry out for help; but when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, which told him that help was at hand, hope revived in his heart. The priest heard the poor man’s groans, and saw his bleeding condition, but he who was but just returning from the service of the merciful God had no compassion for this poor, dying man, and went on his way. The Levite too, in his turn, passed by, unmoved. Both of them knew and preached the divine law: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, but neither of them practised what they taught, or showed love towards their fellow-countryman and fellow-believer. The poor, wounded man had well-nigh given up all hope, when the Good Samaritan rode up.

— XLII. THE DOCTOR OF THE LAW.—THE GOOD SAMARITAN.

compassion. And going¹ up to him, he bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and setting him upon his own beast², brought him to an inn and took care of him.

“The next day he took out two pence³, and gave them to the innkeeper, and said: ‘Take care of him, and whatever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee.’” Having finished the parable⁴, Jesus asked the doctor: “Which of these

three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that fell among the robbers?” The doctor of the law replied: “He that showed mercy to him.” Jesus said to him: “Go, and do thou in like manner.“⁵

¹ Going. He was not content with a mere show of compassion, but immediately did all he could to relieve the poor man. He applied the remedies usual in those days for stopping the bleeding and preventing the wounds from festering.

² Beast. His mule. ³ Two pence. This was sufficient for his keep for two days.

⁴ The parable. Our Lord had conveyed his teaching in the form of a narrative, so as to compel the scribe to answer his own question for himself.

⁵ In like manner. Show compassion to all who need it. — 558 XLII. THE DOCTOR OF THE LAW.—THE GOOD SAMARITAN. COMMENTARY.

Love of our neighbour. He who hopes to be saved must love God with all his heart, and his neighbour as himself. Of the love of God we shall speak in the next chapter: this chapter deals principally with the love of our neighbour, the qualities of which our Lord shows us in His beautiful parable of the Good Samaritan.

The love shown by the Samaritan was, first of all, real, for he felt compassion from his heart for the wounded man, and had a real sympathy with him in his misfortunes. He stopped instantly when he perceived the poor man, and went up to him, whereas the priest and the Levite had both passed by regardless of his state. And because his love was real, it was practical. He wished to help the poor man, and did all in his power to alleviate his sufferings and save his life; he interrupted his journey, tended the wounded man himself all that day, and when his business called him away for a few days, he left him in charge of the innkeeper, paying for his keep, and promising to return. Lastly, the love he showed was universal. He knew that the wounded man was a Jew, the enemy of his people; and he knew that under similar circumstances a Jew would be very unlikely to assist him. All the same he took pity on him, and forgave the enmity shown to the Samaritans by the Jews. In this poor man he saw only a suffering fellow-creature and a brother, and helped him as such.

By this parable, therefore, our Lord teaches us that every man is our neighbour, and that our love ought to be real, practical and universal.

The deeper meaning of the parable. According to the Fathers of the Church the following deeper interpretation can be given to it. Jesus Himself is the Good Samaritan, as proved by His treatment of the robbed and wounded human race. Sin and the devil are the robbers who have despoiled man of his robe of innocence and all supernatural gifts, and grievously wounded him in his natural gifts. Thus man lay, weak, helpless, and half dead. He still, it is true, possessed his natural life, but he had lost the supernatural life of grace, as well as the prospect of eternal life, and was powerless to raise himself from the misery of sin by any effort of his own. Neither priest nor Levite, i. e. neither sacrifice nor law of the Old Covenant, could help him, or heal his wounds; they only made him realize more fully his helpless condition. Then the Son of God, moved by compassion, came down from heaven to help poor fallen man, living at enmity with God. He healed his wounds with the wine of His Most Precious Blood and the oil of His grace, and took him to the inn, His Church. When He left this earth to return to heaven, He gave to the guardians of His Church the twofold treasure of His doctrine and His grace, and ordered them to tend the still weak man, until He Himself came back to reward every one according to his

— XLIII. MARY AND MARTHA.

works. This inconceivable love of the Incarnate Son of God for all men is the great reason why we ought to love our neighbour and even our enemy.

APPLICATION. In the case of the priest and the Levite you can see what a hateful thing is want of compassion. On the other hand, the example of the Samaritan shows you how noble and beautiful is a heart full of pity and a desire to help those in need. Now which heart is yours most like? that of the priest or that of the Samaritan? Do you feel pity for others in their misfortunes? Do you not sometimes feel a wicked joy when evil befalls any one? Do you help the sick or poor as far as you are able? Surely, even if you can give them nothing, you could visit them, show them your sympathy, and pray for them.