Your name is written in heaven!

Luke 10, 1-12, 17-20 At that time the Lord appointed seventy-two others whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, "The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say,'Peace to this household.' If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, 'The kingdom of God is at hand for you.' Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, 'The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.'Yet know this: the kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town." The seventy-two returned rejoicing, and said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name." Jesus said, "I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power to 'tread upon serpents' and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven." A few weeks ago, I was hiking in Griffith Park when I heard three planes overhead. They were flying in formation, and they began to write in the sky. It was amazing how they flew in unison and how the words appeared in the sky. It was a woman’s name Cindy and then I love you. In the Gospel today Jesus tells us that our names are written in heaven. Now as beautiful as the writing in sky was it didn’t last all that long. But our name that is written in heaven lasts forever. In today’s gospel we continue the story of the sending out of the disciples. Last week we were reminded to be followers of Jesus you had to remove anything that kept you from following Jesus. That nothing could stand between us and Jesus. This week we hear of these first disciples returning from their mission. The disciples were thrilled with their success, with their power over evil spirits, with all the things that they could do but Jesus challenges them to be happy with something more important. Jesus says, “Do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” There is no greater gift or blessing for us followers of Jesus then to know that our names are written in the book of life. Today we gain two new disciples of Jesus. Emily and Santino today they will be baptized. There are many blessings that come with the sacrament of baptism. But the greatest blessing is that today the names of Emily and Santino are going to be written in heaven. Emily your name is going to be written in heaven. Santino your name is going to be written in heaven. All of us, say it to yourself. Patrick, Val, Derald your name is written in heaven. Now turn to the person next to you. If you don’t know their name, you will have to ask them first. Once you know their name tell them: Your name is written in heaven. When we began the service tonight, I asked Santino’s and Emily’s parents if they accepted the challenge to educate their children in the faith. If they tell their children that their names are written in heaven, they go a long way in fulfilling that obligation. If they tell their children that God loves them, they are fulfilling their responsibility. In the Gospel it says that the Lord appointed 72 others. I don’t know how many of us are here tonight, maybe 150, but we are all appointed as well. We all have our names written in heaven. When we accept the invitation to be disciples of Jesus, we gain the opportunity to have our names written in heaven. A disciple of Jesus is one who accepts the invitation to share Jesus’ message with others. That is what Santino and Emily’s parents are doing today. They are accepting the invitation to be disciples of Jesus; they are sharing their faith with their children. Their names are also written in heaven.