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| “ Sorrowful Christ” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN |
Reading 1 : 1 Kings 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.
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21
Elijah’s
time is coming to an end and God instructs him to select his successor, Elisha.
In response to God’s instruction, Elijah travels to a
region near Damascus and finds his successor
Elisha plowing a field using the symbolic 12 Oxen (for the twelve tribes of Israel
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 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.
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Commentary on Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Psalm
16 is the song quoted in the Acts 2:14ff. A song of thanksgiving
that has become prophetic, it speaks clearly of the resurrection accomplished
now in Christ. (“Because you will not abandon my soul to the nether world, nor will you
suffer your faithful one to undergo corruption”.)
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Reading II: Galatians 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.
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Commentary on Gal 5:1, 13-18
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Gospel: Luke 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
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Commentary on Lk 9:51-62
This passage from St. Luke’s
Gospel, set shortly after the Transfiguration event, begins the narrative of
Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem. The announcement - “When the days for Jesus’
being taken up were fulfilled” provides language almost identical to describing
Elijah’s assumption in 2 Kings 2:9-11.
As they travel word comes that
the name of Jesus is being used to cast out demons by others, not part of
Jesus' immediate disciples. The twelve are upset by this, but Jesus
reminds them of the justice of their common cause. Clear reference to the
later universal call to all peoples to participate in the ministry of Christ.
They travel through a Samarian
rejoin in which Jesus was not welcome because of his Jewish identity (see also John 4:9). His rejection by the
Samaritans is a forerunner to the rejection he will receive when he reaches his
destination. James and John (the “Sons of Thunder”) want to destroy the place
but again Jesus, prefiguring the persecution he will face in Jerusalem does not
dispute his rejection.
The journey continues with the
Gospel giving us three sayings of Jesus about the requirement to place the
values of Christian discipleship above all other requirements of life.
Proclaiming the Kingdom of God must come before even family obligations.
In the first, “Foxes have
dens…” Jesus does not deceive anyone – he lives in poverty, dedicated to
his mission.
The second; “Let the dead bury
their dead” is a play on words; let the spiritually dead bury the
physically dead; Jesus message is the message of life. This saying was never
intended to be taken literally as filial piety is deeply ingrained in Jewish
life.
The third saying; “No one
who…looks to what was left behind” Jesus demands more than Elisha (see 1 Kings 19:19-21). “Plowing
for the Kingdom demands sacrifice.”[5]
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Reflection:
When
we think about Jesus’ mission and how he must have felt at the point in time
where the Gospel passage from St. Luke places him. “…the
days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled”; that means his time on
earth is growing short and while he has significant notoriety around Galilee
and many know of him in Jerusalem, he was sent to bring salvation to the whole
world. He was given the mission of
bringing God’s message to all the people of the world and he has barely
scratched the surface. Even as he and
his friends travel to Jerusalem
So
much had to be left to these simple followers of his; even with the Holy Spirit
to guide and strengthen them he knows how difficult it will be. It is this mood that strikes us from the
Gospel (and from the story of Elijah selecting his successor – he too was
ending his service on earth). God’s
plan, though, moves forward. Jesus final
journey and his great passion at the end of it will be enough. Already the Word of God impacts the world and
even with Jesus’ apparent defeat on the cross, the will of God to reveal
himself has moved beyond where those who would wish to stop it could.
In
all the years since the events in Galilee and Jerusalem Apostle
St. Paul to continue to live in the freedom of God’s spirit which
informs us to love one another.
Today
we pray that we heed that call and with the Holy Spirit as our constant ally we
are able to do his work and transform the world though our great love. It is still an enormous task, but we have the
Lord to help us.
Pax
In Other Years on June 30th:
Optional Memorial of the First
Holy Martyrs of Rome
Please pray for the soul of Deacon Greg VanderVoorde who has passed from this life to the next. Pray also for Peggy his wife and their whole family that Christ, in his great mercy, will offer his consolation.
[2]
The picture is “ Sorrowful Christ” Artist and Date are UNKNOWN
[3]
The readings are taken from the New American Bible with the exception of the
Psalm and its response which were developed by the International Committee for
English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
re-publication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
See NAB Footnote on 1 Kings 19:16ff
[5]
See Jerome Biblical Commentary, Prentice Hall, Inc., © 1968, 44:97.
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