First reading. 1 Kings 19:16,19-21
Responsorial Psalm. Psalm 15:1-2,5,7-11.
You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Second reading. Galatians 5:1,13-18
Gospel. Luke 9:51-62
The Gospel this weekend shows various people coming up to Jesus and giving reasons why they cannot follow him immediately, but also how they intend to follow him as soon as possible.
I think the key to this Gospel is the first words of the passage: "As the time grew near for Our Lord to be taken up to heaven." In other words, there was no time left. There was an absolute urgency and immediacy to Our Lord's last days. There was no time but the present and there was not time for hesitations, excuses or delays. It was now or never. So, irrespective of whether the excuses given by people were good or whether they were weak, nothing must be allowed to stop the mission of Christ from being accomplished. So, one needs to get their priorities right. Our Lord' Gospel has an urgency that demands first priority. And we must not let many reasons frustrate that plan. There may very well always be good reasons to put off until tomorrow (or later) what really needs to be done today. And of course.. tomorrow may never come….
There is a story told of an Olympic champion who lived in an Eastern Block nation during the time of the Cold War. She wanted to defect to the West. When she finally decided to do so, it was only by literally turning her back on her unique privileges, including a rather rare car given to her as an exceptional favour due to her sporting status, and moving forward to a new life with the only possessions being one small carry-case.…. If she had tried to take anything more, it would have alerted the authorities to the planned defection and the escape would have failed and ended tragically. If something is urgent and important, hesitation or looking back could be catastrophic. Christ knew that.
This weekend’s readings are about setting out on an urgent and very important journey…. Our Lord has been up ‘til this point, traveling about proclaiming the good news… Now he has resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem and his impending suffering and death. As he journeys, various people come up to him and say: "I want to come with you." Our Lord impresses upon them that he is not forcing anyone to come along with him. Rather, he is giving them absolute freedom. But, if they choose to follow him it will require total, complete and single-minded commitment. There can be no "ifs or buts," and no hesitation . To those who say "I will follow you anywhere, but first I have to do such and such," Jesus cuts them off and virtually says…. "forget it! Go home. I am heading in this direction immediately. Come with me now or lose the moment. There is only now. No time for wavering" ….. The intensity and the urgency of Christ's mission cannot be more strongly emphasized.
The first reading has a strikingly similar incident. Elisha is chosen by the prophet Elijah to follow him as a disciple, symbolised by the beautiful image of the Prophet Elijah throwing his cloak over the young man as he walks by. Elisha is obviously both honoured and frightened. He says, "first let me say goodbye to my parents." Elijah is affronted and says to him the modern equivalent of “have I done anything to you? Am I forcing you to come with me? Go back and forget it.” This has the desired effect of shocking Elisha into realising that this offer is once and only. Elisha (who may probably have hesitated and not returned if he had looked back), went and followed Elijah immediately.
At various times we all find ourselves setting out on new journeys. Whether those journeys be physical, spiritual, vocational, or otherwise. These journeys create some hesitations and fears. They involve moving out of comfort zones and into unfamiliar territory. But we also know that we follow Our Lord wherever he has led us in life, without significant hesitation. God never has been one to lead us down the wrong paths, even if sometimes you and I may have occasionally turned down some seemingly "dead-end streets" in some of our decisions and actions. ………. but we are sure that ultimately we will be led by the Lord to our destination.
When I was a child, I remember hearing the reading of Jesus calling the disciples. He called them and they left everything immediately and followed him. I remember thinking with the wonderful openness of a child "why can’t I do that too? Why should I not heed this passage and go and follow Christ as these disciples did?" (Not that I was tempted to be reckless and leave everything or not tell anyone what I was doing. This Gospel was never a recipe for irresponsibility. I knew that even as a child). But when I was older I did want to do a job that meant proclaiming the good news explicitly and helping people as a “Proclaimer of the Gospel.”
As I got older I realized that of course we do not need to go overseas to do mission, although those who do this are doing great and important work and we who are not in overseas mission, nevertheless help by our prayers and practical support. Meanwhile, Our Lord calls us in the here and now; in this place and this time, to live and witness to the good news in the places we live, work and socialize. I also realized that one can follow Jesus in many, many vocations, careers and jobs; each in varying ways. All of us here have answered Our Lord' call to "come follow me" in different and wonderful ways.
I must admit that as a child, although I may have sensed that we all follow Our Lord in our work and life, I nevertheless felt a strong desire to follow him the rather more literal way that he called the disciples. I wanted to be more visibly, and clearly following Jesus, not just in essence but almost in imitation of the ministry and preaching of the disciples. So I entered into Priestly life. This year I celebrate nineteen years of ordination to the priesthood. I thank God for the blessings God has given me in the people I have worked with and the varied settings I have ministered in. I am glad to say that I do not regret for a moment answering that call, and God has graciously and patiently kept sustaining and renewing me in the best and the joyful and also in the difficult and trying times of ministry… In the nineteen years of priesthood and also the seven years of training prior to that, my faith in Christ and my vocation to priesthood has never wavered. Thanks be entirely to God's grace even in times of trial. Nineteen years after my ordination, I feel at this point, as certain as ever that this path, of priesthood, is an ongoing path of life and joy, and I know that each time we reflect upon the person and message of Christ this will assist us to keep resolutely set towards the good news and compassionately perform the different vocations to which Christ invites each of us.
The Gospel today also raises the really important question of the extent to which we are capable of fooling ourselves… and self-deceiving ourselves… it can be a very subtle but effective thing…. Our Lord wants us to be honest and clear sighted about our lives and our motives and priorities… It can be so easy to be self-indulgent and, at the same time, to gloss over this by making up all sorts of noble excuses and reasons, which really are not authentic.
Let us never underestimate the power of self deception… it is in opposition to the light, openness and generosity of the Gospel of Jesus.
Connected to this.. I have been reading on the subject of self-deception.. because it is such a powerful dynamic in the lives of so many… One book, entitled "Don't Believe Everything You Think: The Six Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking," says that (1) On the whole people prefer stories over statistics. (2) People often seek to confirm their own ideas as opposed to question their ideas; (3) We rarely appreciate the role of coincidence in shaping our lives; (4) We sometimes mis-perceive the world around us; (5) We can often tend to oversimplify our thinking; and (6) Even if we think we have a good memory, it is more accurate to say we can often have faulty or selective memories. The point here is that we would do well to not only admit to the fact that we can self deceive and self justify what we do, but that also we would benefit greatly from strongly suspecting and actively looking for the ways in which you and I are attempting to water-down the message of Jesus' gospel for the sake of our own well-being or peace of mind. It is perfectly healthy to have a healthy suspicion of our capability to water-down the gospel, and it is perfectly unhealthy not to suspect ourselves of the possibility of self justification, which can lead to inconsistency in the application of the gospels and double-standards. This follows on from something I said a couple of weeks ago in relation to the gospel where the Pharisee was mumbling about the woman anointing Jesus' feet. The Pharisee rather disappointingly grumbled to himself: "if he KNEW what kind of woman this is who is touching him and how much of a sinner she was...." But sadly Christ did not want the Pharisee spending any of his energy wondering just how much of a sinner she was or anyone else for that matter. It would be a better world if we all spent our energy wondering how much of a sinner we ourselves are. Would it not be a better world if each and every one of us tended to wonder and suspect that we ourselves might the biggest sinner in the world, and how this might be so, rather than thinking about who else might be a sinner and how much of one! Looking inside ourselves for our own poverty and need is surely closer to the gospel message than trying to look into others hearts and judging their worthiness.
The more that we accept that we can have a tendency to self-deceive and self-justify, the more we will be open to reflecting upon just how closely we are adhering to Christ's vision and values, as opposed to a self-serving version of the same. We are invited to be more and more open to Jesus' call to follow him and place our priorities at his service; and be ever-vigilant for the trap of self-serving justifications.
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References:
Fr Paul W. Kelly
Don't Believe Everything You Think: The 6 Basic Mistakes We Make in Thinking. (Prometheus: May 2, 2006). by Thomas E. Kida.
MISSION 2000 – PRAYING SCRIPTURE IN A CONTEMPORARY WAY. YEAR c. BY MARK LINK S.J.
A BOOK OF GRACE-FILLED DAYS. BY ALICE CAMILLE.
SHARING THE WORD THROUGH THELITURGICAL YEAR. GUSTAVO GUTIERREZ.
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Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time. Year C.
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
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Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins,
and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.
You raise the dead to life in the Spirit. Lord, have mercy//You bring pardon and peace to the sinner. Christ, have mercy// You bring light to those in darkness. Lord, have mercy//
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Memorial Acclamation
1. We proclaim your Death, O Lord, and profess your Resurrection, until you come again.
2. When we eat this Bread and drink this Cup, we proclaim your Death, O Lord, until you come again.
3. Save us, Saviour of the world, for by your Cross and Resurrection, you have set us free.
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Preparation of the Gifts
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread we offer you: fruit of the earth and work of human hands, it will become for us the bread of life.
Blessed be God for ever.
Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the wine we offer you: fruit of the vine and work of human hands, it will become our spiritual drink.
Blessed be God for ever.
Pray, brothers and sisters, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God,
the almighty Father.
May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands, for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church.
Sundays Ordinary III p.30
Euch Prayer Three p.58
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Go forth, the Mass is ended.
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