Readings: 1 Kings 19:16, 19-21; Psalm 16; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62
Grace and peace to you dear brothers and sisters in the Lord. Today is the 13th Sunday in Ordinary time, year C.
The First Reading of today talks about the call of Elisha to succeed Elijah the prophet.
In the Second Reading, St. Paul reminds us that Christ has called us to freedom. He has called us to serve others in love and not to self-indulgence.
In the Gospel of today, we have the report of how the Samaritans refused to allow Jesus to pass through their territory because He was a Jew on the way to Jerusalem, a place they despised so much. After this, we have the account of three different people who wanted to follow Jesus and how Jesus responded in each case.
Jesus taught the first person that following Him calls for sacrifice and it’s not mostly about comfort.
He reminded the second aspirant that our duty to family should never come before our duty to God.
And finally, Jesus taught the third candidate that God’s call is urgent and cannot be postponed until later and once we respond, we have no business looking back again.
Today, I sense the Lord calling us to reflect on His call. The Lord is calling us to be something. The Lord is always calling us, but the question is, what is He calling us to be?
We can just focus on four things:
A. The most important call of the Lord to all of us is repentance.
The Samaritans missed their blessings because they held onto their enmity with the Jews. James and John were rebuked because they passed a quick judgment on the Samaritans and were about to misuse their charismatic power. In the Second Reading, St. Paul says that God is calling us from self-indulgence.
What is God calling me to repent from today?
Perhaps, we can take a cue from the disciples and focus on our tendency to repay evil with evil, our tendency to judge people, our impatience with people.
B. The Lord is calling us to accept our crosses of life with faith, with resignation to His will and with a positive mindset.
The Gospel says Jesus resolutely took the road to Jerusalem. Jesus knew what awaited Him and yet He faced Jerusalem. He was determined to do God’s will and accept His cross.
What is my attitude to my cross, to the inconveniences I didn’t choose and I can’t change?
Am I always angry, always complaining, bitter and full of regrets or do I accept it with faith and a positive spirit?
C. The Lord is calling us to think of the ways in which we can better serve others. That is the message of the Second Reading of today.
The question is “In what ways can I bless others more?”
In what ways can I serve others more?”
That was the essence of the gift that James and John had and almost misused.
D. The Lord is calling us to draw nearer to Him, to come closer.
This is not a call to do more or to come more to the church, but a call to be more, a call to a deeper relationship. God is calling us from our social distance to a closer walk. All those whom Jesus called in today’s Gospel were Jesus’ admirers but today He said, “follow me”, which meant, stop following at a distance. To follow at a distance is risky (ask Peter on the night of Jesus’ arrest).
Jesus says walk with me.
What will be our excuse?
Will it be our friends, family, relationships, jobs, our studies, our love of pleasure, ambition or our comfort?
What is it that may hold us back from going deeper with the Lord?
Let us pray that we may hear and heed God’s call today, that we may hear His call to repentance, His call for us to accept our crosses with grace, the call to serve Him in others and the call to draw nearer to Him than ever before. May nothing stop us from saying to Him, “Yes, Lord, Here I am. I am ready to be who you will, to do what you will and go where you send.”
Sermon preached by Rev. Fr. Emmanuel Baraka-Gukena Okami on June 26, 2022