Deacon Tom Anthony

Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 99

Reading 1 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21

The LORD said to Elijah:
"You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah,
as prophet to succeed you."

Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat,
as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen;
he was following the twelfth.
Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.
Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
"Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you."
Elijah answered, "Go back!
Have I done anything to you?"
Elisha left him, and taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them;
he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh,
and gave it to his people to eat.
Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant.

 

Responsorial Psalm Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11

R. (cf. 5a) You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Keep me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
 I say to the LORD, "My Lord are you.
O LORD, my allotted portion and my cup,
 you it is who hold fast my lot."
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
I bless the LORD who counsels me;
 even in the night my heart exhorts me.
I set the LORD ever before me;
 with him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
Therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,
 my body, too, abides in confidence
because you will not abandon my soul to the netherworld,
 nor will you suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.
You will show me the path to life,
 fullness of joys in your presence,
 the delights at your right hand forever.
R. You are my inheritance, O Lord.

Reading 2 Gal 5:1, 13-18

Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.
But do not use this freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh;
rather, serve one another through love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement,
namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you go on biting and devouring one another,
beware that you are not consumed by one another.

I say, then: live by the Spirit
and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
these are opposed to each other,
so that you may not do what you want.
But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Alleluia 1 Sm 3:9; Jn 6:68c

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening;
you have the words of everlasting life.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Lk 9:51-62

When the days for Jesus' being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?"
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
To him Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."

My Brothers and Sisters

 We have received everything from God. This is a fact that we as Christians need to acknowledge and have it influence our thoughts, decisions, and conduct. We can either be guided by the Holy Spirit or be guided by the temptations of earthly desires which have their origins in the flesh and will eventually rot with the flesh. Our spiritual experiences have no limitations and it is with these that we become closer with God; entering into relationship with Him and getting to know Him. Worship, prayer, reading Sacred Scripture, studying, and merely contemplating His presence are just some of the ways that we can feed ourselves spiritually and become stronger as a result. These things also have the capability of keeping us close to Him and thus forcing away any temptation for us the sin. The more we contemplate God then the less we will be focused on things that cause us to go astray and lead to our destruction. Our spirituality requires just as much exercise and nourishment as our body and mind. To be in communion with God all of these must be nourished with the same positive and uplifting food.

Having God as our primary focus increases our potential and opens up new pathways of living that were unbeknownst to us previously. From early on there have been times that it was easy to forget about our relationship with God because of day to day concerns and responsibilities that society challenges us with. There is a tendency to face these things without God instead of acknowledging His presence and asking for His help. This is a product of Original Sin where we have a tendency to ignore God while trying to be Godlike ourselves. This ultimately ends in failure and a state of unhappiness which can only be overcome by reestablishing our relationship with God and doing things with Him instead of without Him. When we do this there will be joy in everything that we do and everything that we encounter be it good or bad. When God is on our side there can be nothing against us which can overcome us.

In the First Reading today there was a very interesting exchange between the prophet Elijah and Elisha. Elijah placed his cloak over Elisha’s shoulder indicating that Elisha was to be his successor ordained by God. Elisha in his humanness asked Elijah to be given the opportunity to say goodbye to his parents. Even though Elisha was called by God he failed to recognize the importance of that divine call and looked at it in mere human terms where his human responsibilities and reactions took precedence over what God wanted for him. Elijah corrected him abruptly by putting it in context: it wasn’t Elijah who chose him or was calling him to the prophetic office but it was God Himself and Elisha should act accordingly. We as God’s children are reminded to do the same. There are things expected of us as Children of God and we are reminded that our calling is from the Divine and from no human institution. Our reaction should be one that is spiritual in nature and not one that is impeded by things of this earth.

Jesus was more forceful in His reaction to His disciples and those who wished to follow Him. He challenged them by first ignoring the emotional actions of James and John to human rejection then abruptly dismissed the earthly concerns of His would be followers when they presented Him with emotional conflicts that were created by societal responsibilities and concerns. Jesus indicated that nothing of this earth or created by human hands should take precedent over that which involves our spiritual mission and our relationship with Him. Our direction forward should always include Jesus once we have recognized Him and accepted that we are walking with Him. The past is the past. The present is where we are and is of the most importance while the future and all its anxieties will never come. The person who plows is not concerned with the earth that was tilled or that which is to come. The blade is being maneuvered for the benefit of the soil directly in front of it. So must we do the same thing with our lives and the building up of the Kingdom of God on this earth.

When the concerns of our relationship with Jesus Christ and its importance start to take on a primary role in our lives is we will find ourselves in a constant state of joy. Removing all of the clutter between us and Jesus that we put there through our actions and behaviors will begin a process of reconciliation that will ultimately benefit us because we will be reset exactly where Jesus wanted us to be in the first place in relation to Him. We can then begin to build, plant, and create anew the way that we should have been doing all along. Then we can realize just how precious all of these gifts given to us by God are really are in this life and the next.

Deacon Tom