June 26, 2016

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

1 Kings 19:16, 19-21; Galatians 5: 1, 13-18; Luke 9: 51-62
Matthew, Mark and Luke in their gospel accounts have Jesus going to Jerusalem only once. John
has Jesus going to Jerusalem many times. Why the difference? One Scripture Scholar told me that
Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish religion and their nation. The Great temple of Solomon was
erected there to symbolize its importance. Jesus had been preaching and teaching and now He was
beginning the final phase of His journey…He was going to His death in Jerusalem. He knew this.
He was preparing His disciples for His church, the fellowship of Love. And Jesus calls each person
every day. He is calling me to be more determined in my following His Way. He is calling me to
give up attachments that get in the way of loving each person in my life and helping those who are
hurting. He is calling me to spend time on how I have been filled with an abundance of gifts and the
sole purpose of these gifts is in ‘giving them away.’ Today’s reading calls me to action.
Being left to myself, I am very comfortable with the way things are. I don’t want to go through any
harsh change; which translates that I am reluctant to hear the words of Jesus to encounter the
unexpected and unknown. I don’t want to get out of my comfort zone and live the life of a disciple
of God’s love: reaching out and sharing and caring and giving and walking with the poor. The
readings help me to go deeper into God’s individual call for myself and each person.
In the first reading, Elijah is convinced that his time of serving the Lord has come to an end. He
pleads with God to bring him to the new life waiting him in heaven. What does God do…He tells
the prophet that there is more to do. One of his tasks is to go to Elisha, anoint him as his successor.
Elijah doesn’t say any words in this encounter, just throws his cloak over Elisha and walks away.
God is calling him. Elisha is ready and willing to follow. He makes a couple of breaks with his past.
And what Elisha does is an inspiration: he shows his care and concern for those ‘under him…below
him’…the servants and field workers. His family had property and wealth. Just needing twelve
oxen to plow the field showed this. He slaughters the oxen, uses the wood of the plowing
equipment to cook the meat, and feeds the other workers in the field. Now he will learn how to
nourish others spiritually…but he still has obligations of sharing and caring for those around him.
Do I have eyes just on the future…on what I need to do later today and not look at where I am at
now and that just maybe God has placed me there to be caring?
Paul is telling the Galatians that they are to live realizing that they are called to love…all people…all
the time, just as they love themselves. Living in the Spirit means a whole new way of acting in the
world. We are not to be simply spectators. We are not just to say, ‘Don’t worry God is with you and
cares for you…’ We are to be involved in the hard work of showing this, regardless of the cost, or
the difficulty or the sacrifice. I am called…each person is called…that’s why each person is gifted.
I’m thinking of the different missionary trips I made to South America and Haiti and how I
interacted with the people. When I came back I shared how ‘these people touched me in amazing
ways’…they just shared maybe it was only their smile or their zest for life…they shared and cared.
Do I?
Luke is filling in the demands of what it means to follow Jesus. In this long journey to Jerusalem,
Jesus is teaching His followers about the radical demands of what it means to be a disciple. Jesus is
making it very clear that being his follower does not bring with it the security of place and
permanence. This journey never ends on this side of death. Each person is ‘called’ no matter where
they are: while at home, or traveling, at work, on vacation, in school or even at fun. ‘Being called’
is not like having a job or career…it is about living as God in the now…living love. There is
nothing casual about this. Everything is now absorbed into living as a member of God’s kingdom.
Jesus uses an expression that clarifies this, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was
left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” So I ask what am I called to leave behind: My old ways of
living, unhealthy habits, unsociable attitudes, biases, bigotry, hatreds, grudges, angers and hostilities.
I am called to leave behind all that hinders my growth as being a disciple of Jesus and His love.
Connections, The newsletter of ideas, resources and information for homilists and preachers
describes this call of Jesus today in these words, “There is urgency to Jesus’ call in today’s Gospel to
follow Him in creating the Kingdom of God in our time and place…Jesus speaks bluntly of the need to act now,
to make God’s kingdom of mercy, compassion and peace a reality immediately for the good of the poor, the
lost, the forgotten, the suffering. Consciously or unconsciously, we let so many agendas, interests and activities
monopolize our days; Jesus’ call to discipleship, however, demands a total focused commitment to the Gospel
that affects every moment, every decision, every relationship of our lives. To ‘follow’Jesus is to see the true joy
and meaning of God’s gift of this life of ours is found in the hard but often hidden work of making the reign of
God a reality in our place, in our time.”
So all I have to do is to continue to say YES each day. I am never alone. God is with me every
moment. The Spirit is gracing me, helping me with an innumerable supply of gifts to handle each
encounter with God’s love and care. Do I let God be God to me? Do I feel this is just too much?
God doesn’t…that’s why He created me.
So I reflect on:
• How often is my resolve is paper thin? When this happens to I call on God for help or just
continue in my waywardness?
• Who are the people in my life I most admire and want to be like? What qualities do they have
that enables them to be ‘doers’ for God?
• What sacrifices am I making to live my life of faith?
• Do I like the idea of being a disciple but reject the reality?
• I have so many projects and I say ‘But first I have to do this…’ When do these stop me from
following Jesus today?
• I look at my past and see how I have grown in my saying ‘Yes’ to Jesus. Do any of these help me
in growing closer today?
Sacred Space 2016 shares these insights:
“Jesus asks for commitment—real commitment. The time for it is now. On our own road today we must
proclaim the kingdom of God. If we keep waiting for the right moment, the sands ofttimes will run quickly
through our fingers.
The poet Robert Browning wrote: ‘Earth is full of Heaven,/And every common bush is alive with God.’ Seeing
the world from this perspective, I daily try to serve the Lord.”