The Universal Church celebrates Sunday, June 30, 2019, as the thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year C. In the entrance antiphon we pray: “All nations, clap your hands. Shout with a voice of joy to God. Amen.”
In the first reading, from the first book of Kings, the fearless prophet Elijah anoints his successor, Elisha, who immediately abandons his old ways and dedicates himself entirely to the service of God. His wholehearted commitment to God is a reminder to us that we too must fully commit ourselves to the service of God. In the second reading, from the Letter to the Galatians, Saint Paul tells his converts of Galatia that Jesus freed us from sin, fear, death and evil so that we could remain free forever. He who follows Christ knows only one law, the law of love of God and love of neighbour. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus tells us that once our hand is on the plough, there should be no looking back. He wants all his followers to completely detach themselves from all that is worldly and follow him unconditionally. Some found the conditions for his discipleship too hard to follow and went off to bury their dead, a religious obligation, or say goodbye to their parents. Legitimate though these social concerns maybe, Jesus’ discipleship calls for total commitment on the part of his followers. They must drop everything else, carry their cross and follow him, irrespective of whatever obstacles and difficulties they may find on their way. In the course of this Eucharist, let us pray for the grace to hear our Lord’s call to follow him and ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our faith so we can truly follow our Lord whenever we hear his call.
First Reading: 1 Kings 19: 16. 19-21.
The Lord said to Elijah: ‘Go, you are to anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah, as prophet to succeed you.’ Leaving there, Elijah came on Elisha son of Shaphat as he was ploughing behind twelve yoke of oxen, he himself being with the twelfth. Elijah passed near to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’, he said. Elijah answered, ‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you?’ Elisha turned away, took the pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen, then gave to his men, who ate. He then rose and followed Elijah and became his servant.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
There are two books of Kings in the Bible, commonly known as First and Second Kings. The African Bible tells us that the two Books of Kings cover about four centuries of Israel’s history, marked by three main events: the first is the united monarchy (during which time Israel and Judah remained united under Solomon as they had been under Saul and David); the second event is the divided monarchy (from the rebellion of Israel against the rulership of the Judean kings until Israel was carried off into captivity by the Assyrians); and the third is the period of the surviving kingdom, which record Judah’s history from the deportation of Israel to Judah’s own defeat and exile by the Babylonians.
Both Books of Kings serve, therefore, as a record of the kings of both Israel and Judah, showing the decline of the northern and southern kingdoms and pointing out the reasons for this decline and the fate of each king. The sacred author seems to have intended to teach the people of Israel in exile in Babylon the reasons for their plight so that they could learn from the errors of the past. He instructs the exiles by demonstrating to them that through their kings they have been unfaithful to God’s covenant but that God, far from abandoning Israel, has remained loyal and patient with them.
Two prophets play a significant role in the Books of King: Elijah and Elisha. Elijah, whose name means “my God is the Lord”, is an itinerant prophet who, like the Patriarchs, moves around the country in obedience to the word of the Lord. He is a very courageous man, who does not hesitate to denounce the abuses of power and the violation of justice by those in authority. He has to flee from the fury of those in power to take refuge in the desert. That is where he receives God’s command to anoint Elisha as his successor. Elisha is important to Elijah because he will carry on Elijah’s mission. Elisha is to Elijah what Joshua is to Moses, each completing his master’s work.
In the reading of this day, we see how Elisha, whose name means “My God saves,” instantly responds to Elijah’s call to follow him. He leaves everything behind and puts himself entirely at the service of the prophet. This reminds us of how some apostles of Christ were later to respond to his call, instantly. He finds Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea and asks them to follow him and he will make them fishers of men and immediately they leave their nets and follow him. A little further he meets the Zebedee brothers, James and John, also fishermen at work and invites them to follow him and they do so without asking why or who he is (Mt. 4: 18-22).
The lesson here is that we all should be ready to answer present when the Lord calls us to a mission. Obedience to God’s call always involves a radical change of lifestyle which calls for total self-surrender to the call. This is not always easy as we each have other pressing issues to attend to, be it ploughing a farm, as it is the case of Elisha, or attending to people or to other social obligations, as we hear in Saint Luke’s Gospel of this day.
So let us pray for the grace to hear Christ’s call and follow him. Let us say this pray which Saint Benedict of Nursia left to the Church. “Gracious and holy Father, please give me intellect to understand you, reason to discern you, diligence to seek you, wisdom to find you, a spirit to know you, a heart to meditate upon you, ears to hear you, eyes to see you, a tongue to proclaim you, a way of life pleasing to you, patience to wait for you, and perseverance to look for you. Grant me a perfect end – your holy presence, a blessed resurrection and life everlasting. Amen.”
Second Reading: Galatians 5: 1. 13-18.
When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. My brothers, you were called, as you know, to liberty; but be careful, or this liberty will provide an opportunity for self-indulgence. Serve one another, rather, in works of love, since the whole of the Law is summarized in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself. If you go snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, you had better watch or you will destroy the whole community. Let me put it like this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions. If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you.
V/ The word of the Lord.
R/ Thanks be to God.
Comment
In this day’s reading, Saint Paul stresses the notion of Christian freedom, which comes through faith in Jesus Christ and not in the Law of Moses. Since they have been freed from the law of Moses, the Galatians have now embraced the law of Christ, which is the law of charity and the commandment of love of God and love of one’s neighbour.
The Law of Moses was divinely inspired but it was something good for his time. Christ then came, not to abolish that law but to bring it to perfection (Mt 5: 17-18). God revealed the Ten Commandments to Moses, which traced clearly the way to follow to please God and be saved. Christ came and showed that the essence of those commandments is love – love of God and love of one’s neighbour.
Paul warns the Galatians, and us as well, against living a double life: on the one hand, we claim to be children of God, boasting of our rich spiritual life, while, on the other hand, we are terribly ordinary, often very dishonest and malicious in our daily life. That is what happened in the community of Galatia, but when we look carefully we see the same ills undermining our Church communities of the Archdiocese of Douala, resulting in conflicts among members.
Paul further gives a list of works of the flesh and another list of works of the Spirit and places side by side idolatry and the ambitions of members that so often bring disunity in religious groups and movements. All this because we do not always keep our gaze, in the words of the Emeritus Benedict XVI, permanently fixed on the crucified Christ. If we keep our eyes permanently fixed on Christ, we would not have time for the petty quarrels, gossips and misunderstandings that so often destroy the unity of our parish communities. So, Paul was not only speaking to the Galatians of his day, he spoke, and still speaks to us today, over two thousand years later.
Let us therefore ask the Holy Spirit to strengthen our faith and help us to overcome the desires of the flesh which so often lead us to neglect the commandments of love that our Lord left us. We make our prayer through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Gospel acclamation: “Alleluia, alleluia. Speak, Lord, your servant is listening: you have the message of eternal life. Alleluia."
Gospel: Luke 9: 51-62.
As the time drew near for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road to Jerusalem and sent messengers ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village. As they traveled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’ Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me,’ replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’ Another said, ‘I will follow you, Sir, but first let me go and say good-bye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
V/ The Gospel of the Lord.
R/ Praise to you Lord, Jesus Christ.
Comment
At the beginning of today’s Gospel, we see Jesus heading for Jerusalem, a journey that will ultimately lead him to the cross and to death. A number of incidents happen along the way. First, he runs into the hostility of the Samaritans. There was a long-standing hostility between Jews and Samaritans, even though they were cousins. Archbishop Fulton Sheen, in his beautiful book, Life of Christ, says that “between the Samaritans and the Jews was a long-standing feud. The Samaritans were a hybrid race, formed centuries before, when the Israelites were brought into captivity. The Assyrians sent some of their own people among them to mix with them, thus creating a new race. … The Samaritans accepted the five books of Moses and some of the prophecies; but rejected all other historical books because these recounted the story of the Jews whom they despised. Their worship was performed in a temple on Mount Garizim.” (Fulton Sheen, Life of Christ, Indian Edition, 1995, p. 93).
The hostility between the Jews and Samaritans was so deep that they had nothing to do with each other. That is why the woman at Jacob’s well is surprised that Jesus, a Jew, would ask her for a drink: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (Jn 4: 9). That shows how much hatred existed between these two cousins. That is why when the Samaritans in the Gospel reading of this day realize that Jesus is heading for Jerusalem, they refuse him hospitality. They do not believe that Jerusalem is as holy a city as the Jews claim it is. That is why the Samaritan woman at the well tells Jesus: Our fathers worshipped on this mountain [Mount Garizim], and you [Jews] say that it is in Jerusalem where men ought to worship” (Jn 4: 20).
The Samaritans do not see why they should be kind towards a group of wandering Jews heading for a place they do not give any religious significance to. What is significance here is the reaction of two of Jesus apostles, the Zebedee brothers, James and John. They want to invoke fire from above to incinerate the people who have refused to accept them. Their yearning for vengeance meets a strong rebuttal from our Lord. Such an act would be totally incompatible with his messianic mission on earth. He came to save, not to destroy, and his pastoral plan has no room for violence of any sort. He then urges his followers to march on with him to Jerusalem, where the cross, death and resurrection await him, the main purpose of his earthly life. Christ is not only rebuking the sons of Zebedee, James and John; he is, through them, castigating our political leaders who, through greed and selfishness, are raining brimstone on poor, innocent people, who only want to be left alone to live their lives in peace. That is what is currently playing out in some parts of Cameroon.
As Christ and his disciples resume their journey, three prospective candidates for discipleship approach him. To the first one, Jesus warns that following him is following someone with no permanent residence on earth, therefore rejection and inhospitality, like the one they have just experienced among the Samaritans, should be expected. The second and third potential candidates for discipleship want to follow him but are held back by prior engagements: one has to bury his father, a religious obligation, and the other goes off to greet his parents before joining Christ’s team, which may never happen. Family loyalty among the Jews is a religious duty but to Jesus, once you have put your hand to the plough, there should be no looking back. He calls for complete and absolute loyalty to his mission.
We learn from this reading that being a Christian is not an easy or comfortable affair. It calls for total self-denial in which we put Christ above everything else. There is an urgency in Jesus’ message: the candidate has to choose his priority, either loyalty to his family, or loyalty to the mission. To be freed for the mission, the candidate must let go the past and be prepared to sacrifice security, duty and affection. Our loyalty and fidelity to the mission God has given us should equip us to deal with every obstacle we meet.
Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem, which he begins today, is also the journey each of us, as Christians, is called upon to take. We too hesitate on our journey to the Father's house as we wonder whether to follow Christ or to attend to some other pressing matter first. Christ is asking you and me to drop everything and go out into the deep and cast our nets for a catch so that we too, like his disciples of old, will become fishers of men and women of our age for the kingdom. That is why we should take our own road to our own ‘Jerusalem’, which is an inward journey in which we examine our faith to determine how well we have been loyal to it. It is our journey that leads us to God through his Son and with the help of the Holy Spirit, through Jesus Christ the risen Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
Comments