A wealthy merchant decides to
sell his goods in a bustling town by the sea. He travels through different
routes—some long and treacherous, others short and safe—carrying exquisite
items that he believes will attract many buyers. Each day, he takes a different
path, hoping to catch the attention of potential customers. On the other hand,
a humble fisherman casts his nets into the sea, bringing in fish that he sells
at the marketplace. The fisherman’s journey is simple; he goes straight to the
shore, catches fish, and returns to sell them without any elaborate routes or
strategies. Despite the merchant’s efforts to impress the townsfolk with his
varied routes and the quality of his goods, the people are more interested in
the fresh fish that the fisherman consistently provides. They are indifferent
to how the merchant arrived or the lengths he went to; they only care about
what is immediately available and practical for their needs.
Product strategy comes first in
marketing. Buyers are not interested in the route-to-market plan of the seller
as long as they get the product they want. Buyers do not go to the marketplace
to know about the seller’s conditions. Albeit, traveling salesman does not go
from one house to another to tell their personal stories. Both the buyers and
the sellers talk about the product.
In our Gospel (Luke 10:1-12, 16-20),
Jesus was commissioning his seventy -two disciples not to sell a product but to
preach that the kingdom of God it at hand. But who will be interested to listen
about the kingdom of God? People who do not care about their souls have no time
to entertain such disciples visiting their homes. But with the disciples who
stood as witnesses to Jesus, the mission was never impossible. They returned to
Jesus rejoicing, and said, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of
your name.”
On this 14th Sunday in
Ordinary Time, we, Christians are reminded of our mission to preach that the
kingdom of God is at hand. But before we can fulfill this mission, we need to
ask ourselves if the kingdom of God has been part of our lives (if not the
center of our lives). Because the moment we start preaching of the kingdom of
God, we have to deal with the reality of rejection. Not all people are willing
to listen to us and about God’s kingdom. On this occasion, we somehow consider
ourselves failure and may tend to abandon the mission. This only happens when
we are not clear of how important the kingdom of God is in our lives. In other
words, we cannot give what we do not have. If we cannot treasure the kingdom of
God personally, then how can we be able to convince others to treasure it.
