Reflection for Sunday 6th July 2025The Third Sunday After Trinity Isaiah 66.10-14, Galatians 6.1-16, Luke 10.1-11, 16-20In our Gospel this week, Jesus sends out the seventy-two in pairs. They are not mighty prophets or miracle workers — just ordinary folk, sent ahead with simple instructions: travel light, accept hospitality, bring peace, and proclaim the Kingdom of God.This is how the Church began: not with grand buildings or finely crafted statements of doctrine, but with people who were willing to go, to speak peace, to pray, to listen. Jesus gave them no illusions — the harvest is plentiful but the labourers are few. There would be rejection. There would be dust to shake off. And yet they returned rejoicing: even the demons submitted to us! But Jesus turns their excitement gently: Rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven.In other words, the real victory is not in what we do for God, but in what God has already done for us. Our identity is not in our successes or failures in ministry — it is in the grace of being known, loved, and called.Isaiah’s vision reminds us that God’s love is like a mother’s embrace — full of comfort, nourishment, and renewal. The Church is called to be such a place of comfort and healing for the wounded, the tired, and the searching.And Paul, writing to the Galatians, says: Let us not grow weary in doing good… if we do not give up, we will reap a harvest. The Christian life isn’t about grand gestures, but daily faithfulness — carrying each other’s burdens, sowing seeds of kindness, standing firm in the truth of the cross.So as summer unfolds and routines shift, perhaps this week offers a moment to ask: Where am I being sent? It might not be far — perhaps just the doorstep of a neighbour, or the quiet act of encouragement to someone feeling unseen. May we go, not in our strength, but in the peace of Christ — and may our names, by His mercy, be found written in heaven. Blessings and prayers, Emma