 |
“Christ Carrying His Cross”
by El Greco, 1580’s |
Readings for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time [2]
Readings from the Jerusalem Bible [3]
Readings and Commentary:
[4]
Reading 1: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a
One day Elisha came to Shunem,
where there was a woman of influence, who urged him to dine
with her.
Afterward, whenever he passed by, he used to stop there to
dine.
So she said to her husband, "I know that Elisha is a
holy man of God.
Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on
the roof
and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp,
so that when he comes to us he can stay there."
Sometime later Elisha arrived and stayed in the room
overnight.
Later Elisha asked, "Can something be done for
her?"
His servant Gehazi answered, "Yes!
She has no son, and her husband is getting on in
years."
Elisha said, "Call her."
When the woman had been called and stood at the door,
Elisha promised, "This time next year
you will be fondling a baby son.
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Commentary on 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a
The passage
provides a picture of the itinerant nature of Elisha, who travels about
providing prophetic guidance to the people from his base at Mount Carmel (2 Kings 2:25). The
woman of the story shows deference to Elisha, recognizing his status as being
sent by God. In return, Elisha repays her generosity seeking God’s help in
providing her material support in the form of a son.
"The main thing to be learned from this passage (as
also from 1 Kings 17:6) is the power of the prophet's prayer and indeed anyone
else's prayer when done with faith. But we also learn that when God gives a
gift, no matter how surprisingly and unexpectedly (such as the gift of a son to
this woman), he also gives the grace to conserve it and make it bear fruit. The
Lord does not leave us to our own devices when he gives us, for example,
personal talents, or a vocation even if we may not have sought one." [5]
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RESPONSORIAL PSALM
Psalm 89:2-3, 16-17,18-19
R. (2a) Forever I will sing the
goodness of the Lord.
The promises of the LORD I will sing forever,
through all generations my mouth shall proclaim your
faithfulness.
For you have said, "My kindness is established
forever";
in heaven you have confirmed your faithfulness.
R. Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
R. Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
You are the splendor of their strength,
and by your favor our horn is exalted.
For to the LORD belongs our shield,
and to the Holy One of Israel, our king.
R. Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
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Commentary on Ps 89:2-3, 16-17,18-19
Psalm 89 is a communal lament. The first strophe recalls God’s
faithfulness expressed in his unbreakable covenant with King David. The focus
next moves to the people of God: “in the light of your countenance, O LORD,
they walk.” The righteous are upheld by the Lord. The passage concludes
reiterating God’s promised help and protection.
CCC: Ps 89 709
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Reading 2: Romans 6:3-4, 8-11
Brothers and sisters:
Are you unaware that we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into his death?
We were indeed buried with him through baptism into death,
so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead
by the glory of the Father,
we too might live in newness of life.
If, then, we have died with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him.
We know that Christ, raised from the dead, dies no more;
death no longer has power over him.
As to his death, he died to sin once and for all;
as to his life, he lives for God.
Consequently, you too must think of yourselves as dead to
sin
and living for God in Christ Jesus.
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Commentary on Rom 6:3-4, 8-11
This reading from Romans reminds the Christian that all who have
been joined to Christ in baptism are also joined to his death. Without the
inevitable death of the body, there is no resurrection. St. Paul teaches that,
since Christ came so his followers could be absolved from sin, the great
promise is that those baptized in the faith will rise with him, free from all
sin.
CCC: Rom 6:3-9 1006; Rom 6:3-4 1214, 1227, 1987; Rom 6:4-5 790; Rom 6:4 537, 628, 648, 654,
658, 730, 977, 1697; Rom 6:8-11 1987
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GOSPEL: Matthew
10:37-42
Jesus said to his apostles:
"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not
worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy
of me;
and whoever does not take up his cross
and follow after me is not worthy of me.
Whoever finds his life will lose it,
and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
"Whoever receives you receives me,
and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet
will receive a prophet's reward,
and whoever receives a righteous man
because he is a righteous man
will receive a righteous man's reward.
And whoever gives only a cup of cold water
to one of these little ones to drink
because the little one is a disciple—
amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his
reward."
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Commentary on Mt 10:37-42
This passage from St. Matthew’s Gospel parallels Mark 8:34-35 and Luke 9:24-25 (also
cf. Luke 14:26-27; 17:33) in
directing the Christian disciple to place their faith above everything else in
their lives, including family. The author softens the language used in St.
Luke’s Gospel from “hate” to “love less,” indicating the kind of divisions that
may occur when the Gospel of Christ is proclaimed in families. The disciple is
enjoined to “take up his cross” in the sense that the Christian
discipline requires the follower to take positions in society which are
frequently unpopular and will cause discrimination and persecution. A more
accurate translation of this instruction is to take up the Cross of Christ (as
was demonstrated in the Passion of Simon of Cyrene) and follow “after”
Jesus. The disciple is instructed to
take up the mission of Jesus and carry it forward.
In the second section of this passage, St. Matthew reminds the
faithful of their own obligation to support others in the Christian community,
especially the “little ones,” indicating the apostles, who depend upon
the support of the community to continue their work.
CCC: Mt 10:37 2232; Mt 10:38 1506; Mt 10:40 858
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Reflection:
For
some of us who are older, we will remember the great classic story Tom Sawyer
by Mark Twain (Samuel L. Clemens). In that iconic tale, Tom tricked a friend of
his, “Ben Rogers” into whitewashing a fence for him. As a homilist, after
reviewing the Scripture for today, I wondered if I could do something like that
got make you think the message today was light and uplifting. But as we look through the Gospel and St.
Paul’s message what we are given is our great commissioning as emissaries of
our Lord, and that requires work on our part.
In
contemplating the Sacred Scripture you have heard today, I would like to start
by saying, thank you for coming here to this house of God and gate of
heaven. Thank you for your faith in
Jesus Christ that brought you here to be with your brothers and sisters in
Christ. Today you are with Simon of Cyrene.
It was Simon who carried the Cross of Christ. It is in Simon’s place we who are his emissaries
in today’s word are asked to stand, carrying the Cross of Jesus.
In
doing so we are saying to society that we reject the hedonism and narcissism at
the heart of secular values. We are
saying, by our presence here, that we choose to follow behind Jesus and to
accept his mission as a major part of our lives.
We
say thank you because it is difficult, this faith we share. Some of us may have been taken by surprise to
hear the St. Paul ask his Roman audience: “Are you unaware that we who were
baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Yet, we all know that
we will not live forever. St. Paul
reminds us that in baptism we were adopted by God. We became members of his household and share
in the inheritance of God’s household, which is resurrection following our
physical death.
We
are given grace, grace to carry the cross which sometimes seems limited to our
own lives, our own redemptive suffering, but in carrying that burden without
complaint and in good spirits we show others the power of our faith, the power
of our savior who took all of our burdens of sin upon himself.
The
Gospel message from St. Matthew is a challenging one. But it does help to put it into context. The passage proclaimed today was part of a
longer dialogue with his disciples. It
began with his commissioning them, explaining where they were to go and what
they were to take with them. He then
warned them about coming persecutions.
He warned them that the message they were bringing would not be popular
and would cause division. And with that
dire warning, he told them what strength of character they would need to follow
behind him, taking the mission he gave them forward.
It
becomes clear that he is establishing a needed priority. He is not telling them that they (and we)
should not love our parents, our families, our friends. No, he is saying that their priority must be
to love God. The decision was theirs and
is now ours.
My
favorite author, Fr. Simeon, wrote the following about this passage:
“We
read that Elijah, during his struggle with the four hundred and fifty prophets
of Baal, ‘stepped forward and said to the people, ‘How long will you go in both
directions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him’ (1 Kings 18:21). This is
the fundamental purpose of the sword of division brought by Christ to compel
each of us to decide whether to adhere to him or to any one of a multitude of
false gods. In the present passage, Jesus proclaims one of the indispensable
conditions for following him, and his tone is just as solemn and full of
prophetic authority as the utterance of Elijah.” [6]
Thank
you. By being present today, you have
made this choice. You have chosen to
follow behind Jesus and to carry his cross as Simon did, proclaiming to all who
see you that you follow Christ. You have made this choice knowing that it is
not easy, it is not popular, and it can even cause divisions with those you
love.
This
decision we have made must be a public witness.
That does not mean we need to stand on street corners proclaiming the
Lord. It means we are called to do what
Jesus asked of his disciples, to be in the world and demonstrate the love of
God to those we meet. That was Jesus’
great message, that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
Thank
God we have the help of the Holy Spirit (also given in baptism). All we need to
do is walk behind the carpenter’s son and carry his cross.
Pax
In
other years on June 28th: Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop
and Martyr
[1]
Catechism links are taken from the
Homiletic Directory, published by the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, 29 June 2014.
[2]
The picture is “Christ Carrying His
Cross” by El Greco, 1580’s.[3]
S.S. Commemoratio[4]
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
republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.[5]
The Navarre Bible, Joshua-Kings (Scepter Publishers, Princeton, NJ, © 2003), 529.
[6]
Leiva-Merikakis, Erasmo. Fire of Mercy, Heart of the Word: Vol. 1 (Ignatius
Press. Kindle Edition), 750.
