20190630
BEING
FOCUSED
30 JUNE, 2019,
Sunday, 13th Week, Ordinary Time
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour:
Green.
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First reading
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1 Kings 19:16,19-21 ©
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Elisha leaves the plough to follow
Elijah
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The Lord said to Elijah, ‘Go, you are to
anoint Elisha son of Shaphat, of Abel Meholah, as prophet to succeed you.’
Leaving
there, Elijah came on Elisha son of Shaphat as he was ploughing behind twelve
yoke of oxen, he himself being with the twelfth. Elijah passed near to him and
threw his cloak over him. Elisha left his oxen and ran after Elijah. ‘Let me
kiss my father and mother, then I will follow you’ he said. Elijah answered,
‘Go, go back; for have I done anything to you?’ Elisha turned away, took the
pair of oxen and slaughtered them. He used the plough for cooking the oxen,
then gave to his men, who ate. He then rose, and followed Elijah and became his
servant.
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Responsorial Psalm
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Psalm
15(16):1-2,5,7-11 ©
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O Lord, it is you who
are my portion.
Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
I say to the Lord: ‘You are my
God.
O Lord, it is you who are my portion and
cup;
it is you yourself who are my
prize.’
O Lord, it is you who
are my portion.
I will bless the Lord who gives me
counsel,
who even at night directs my
heart.
I keep the Lord ever in my sight:
since he is at my right hand,
I shall stand firm.
O Lord, it is you who
are my portion.
And so my heart rejoices, my soul is glad;
even my body shall rest in
safety.
For you will not leave my soul among the
dead,
nor let your beloved know
decay.
O Lord, it is you who
are my portion.
You will show me the path of life,
the fullness of joy in your
presence,
at your right hand happiness
for ever.
O Lord, it is you who
are my portion.
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Second reading
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Galatians 5:1,13-18 ©
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When Christ freed us, he meant us to
remain free
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When Christ freed us, he meant us to
remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of
slavery. My brothers, you were called, as you know, to liberty; but be careful,
or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence. Serve one another,
rather, in works of love, since the whole of the Law is summarised in a single
command: Love your neighbour as yourself. If you go snapping
at each other and tearing each other to pieces, you had better watch or you
will destroy the whole community.
Let
me put it like this: if you are guided by the Spirit you will be in no danger
of yielding to self-indulgence, since self-indulgence is the opposite of the
Spirit, the Spirit is totally against such a thing, and it is precisely because
the two are so opposed that you do not always carry out your good intentions.
If you are led by the Spirit, no law can touch you.
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Gospel Acclamation
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1S3:9,Jn6:68
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Alleluia, alleluia!
Speak, Lord, your servant is listening:
you have the message of eternal life.
Alleluia!
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Gospel
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Luke 9:51-62 ©
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Jesus sets out for Jerusalem
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As the time drew near for him to be taken
up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem and sent messengers
ahead of him. These set out, and they went into a Samaritan village to make
preparations for him, but the people would not receive him because he was
making for Jerusalem. Seeing this, the disciples James and John said, ‘Lord, do
you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he turned and
rebuked them, and they went off to another village.
As
they travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow
you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
Another
to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’
But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and
spread the news of the kingdom of God.’
Another
said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people
at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who
looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’
BEING FOCUSED
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [1 Kgs 19:16.19-21; Ps 16:1-2,5,7-11; Gal 5:1.13-18; Lk 9:51-62]
In the first reading, St
Paul reminds the Christians who have been set free from the Law and from sin to
live in true freedom.
“When Christ freed us, he meant us to remain free. Stand firm, therefore, and
do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.” Indeed, before the coming of
Christ, the Jews were slaves of the Laws. Their religion was reduced to a
scrupulous observance of the laws. It was a burden to them because they
lived in fear of infringing the 613 laws of the religion. On the other
hand, the Gentiles lived without the laws but they became slaves of sin.
They were living immoral lives, worshipping idols, indulging in promiscuity and
sensuality.
But thanks to our Lord
Jesus Christ who saved us from sin and from the Laws, we are now called to true
liberty. But what is Christian freedom? In the world, freedom is understood as
autonomy from everyone and everything. The world’s notion of freedom is
to be free to do whatever one likes without any regard for the happiness and
freedom of others. But that is another form of slavery. It is
slavery to self. When we are addicted to anything in this world, we are
slaves. When we are slaves of lust, envy, gambling, drinking, violence,
anger and greed, how can we say that we are free? Hence, what the world
considers freedom is in truth slavery. It is the worst form of idolatry,
the worship of self.
That is why St Paul
warns us, “My brothers, you were called, as you know, to liberty; but be
careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence.” If we are not careful, we will also abuse
the liberty that our Lord has gained for us. We are set free from sin and
the law, so that we can be free for service and for love. This is what St
Paul wrote, “Serve one another, rather, in works of love, since the whole of
the Law is summarised in a single command: Love your neighbour as yourself. If
you go snapping at each other and tearing each other to pieces, you had better
watch or you will destroy the whole community.” The only true freedom is
freedom from worship of self and our freedom is for the service of God and
humanity. One is truly free when one is free from egoism and
self-centeredness; and is immersed in the lives of others, concerned about them
in self-forgetfulness.
But the devil is very
subtle in destroying us. Even for those of us who seek to love and serve
God and humanity, he tempts us not by doing evil but to forget our priorities
in life. The devil seeks
to distract us from what we are called to do by presenting to us something that
appears to be equally good. Indeed, some of us lose our freedom because
we lack a discerning heart to know what the Lord is asking of us. We
begin the journey well but along the way, we are distracted by other selfish
motives. This is what St Augustine says, that when we set out for our
destination which is heaven, along the way, we see the beautiful flowers and
become so attached to them that we lose our focus and destination. We
become attached to the world instead. This was the case of the characters
mentioned in today’s gospel.
In the first instance, a
man on the road said to Jesus, “‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes
and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his
head.'” We want to love and serve but very often, we do not know that
love always involves sacrifice, whether in marriage, in relationships, in
community service and social and humanitarian works. Without sacrifice,
it is not love. Giving ourselves to others means giving up our comfort,
our convenience, our resources and time; and even our rest and
leisure. Serving others requires us to go out and reach out, not
sitting in our armchair directing others to serve. Pope Francis reminds
us that we must go to the battlefield and the frontlines where the sick and
wounded are, dirty our hands and feet. This is what service is all about.
Secondly, to serve the
Lord means that we must put Him first in our lives so that we can serve others
even more. When He asked the
man to follow Him, his reply was, “‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he
answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the
news of the kingdom of God.'” Again, many of us, in serving people,
especially our loved ones, put them first before God. Jesus is not asking
us to be unfilial to our parents and loved ones. What He is demanding is
that we make Him the center of our lives, otherwise we will not be able to love
others the way He loved us. The truth is that many of us worship
our parents, spouse and children as if they are gods. They are the center
of our lives and they are everything to us. We forget that they belong to
God and our task is to help them to love God and serve others. Instead,
we possess them and refuse to let them go so that they can fulfill their
vocation in life. When we seek to possess them for ourselves, we end up
stifling them, and ourselves, our potential for growth and for life. This
is true also for those in community service as well. They think that by
just focusing on their human needs, they can accomplish their mission.
Without focusing and relying on God’s grace and giving them Jesus, no matter
what we give them will not bring them lasting peace and joy.
Thirdly, when serving
the Lord, we could allow our attachments to people and past achievements to
prevent us from moving forward.
This was what another potential disciple of the Lord said, “‘I will follow you,
sir, but first let me go and say good-bye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to
him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the
kingdom of God.'” Very often it is our attachment to people that makes us
unwilling to venture further when the Lord calls us. It could be our
colleagues, friends or loved ones at home. Many are called to serve the
Lord in new situations and even in a foreign land, but because of attachments,
they are not ready to answer the Lord’s call and so stifle their
vocation. Sometimes, attachments might not be to people but to past
achievements, structures that we built, programs that we created and systems
that we established. We hang on to these as if they are carved in
stone. We are not willing to adapt, change and make modifications or even
throw out entire programs and systems which were once effective but no longer
touched the lives of our people.
Above all, some of us
are blinded by our nationalistic and political attachments. When the apostles “went into a
Samaritan village to make preparations for him, the people would not receive
him because he was making for Jerusalem.” We know that the Samaritans and
the Jews were enemies. So although they were willing to welcome the Lord
they were not happy that He was going up to Jerusalem, the political and
religious capital of Judah. We, too, because of political ambition and
ties would even sacrifice our spiritual life, our faith, our values and our
love for God’s people. Indeed, many of us are so defensive of our
organizations and protective of our citizens that we turn a blind eye to others
who are outside of our organizations and our community. We can become so
cliquish and inward-looking, not because we love our people but because we seek
security and comfort in our safe havens.
Today, the Lord shows us
the way by being resolute and focused on His mission. We read that “as the time drew near
for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem
and sent messengers ahead of him.” He knew the sufferings and trials
ahead of Him in Jerusalem but He was not deterred from going to the place of
His suffering, death and glory. He was determined and did not allow small
things to distract Him. Hence when, “the disciples James and John said,
‘Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to burn them up?’ But he
turned and rebuked them, and they went off to another village.” He had a
greater mission to fulfill, which was to bring conversion first to the Jews, to
establish the Kingdom of God, beginning in Jerusalem and then to the rest of
the world. We, too, must learn to be focused like Jesus in our mission of
proclaiming the Good News through humble service and love of our brothers and
sisters. We must not allow, as St Paul warns us, the spirit of
self-indulgence to hinder us. Rather, like Elisha, we must be ready to
burn our bridges, give up our security as he did, by using his plough to
prepare the oxen to feed the people before he followed Elisha and became his
servant.
In our trials and
challenges, we must walk with persistence and perseverance, always trusting not
in ourselves but in the grace and power of God. We are called to contribute according to
our charisms and expertise to provide for the needy and to show God’s love and
mercy to them. Indeed, our common objective is to help those who are
underprivileged or need help and God’s mercy and love. Regardless which
organization does the work is immaterial but that we all work together as one
Church with a common mission. Finally, we must remain strong
in the Lord with our faith grounded in God, for without His help and
assistance, we would fail. With the psalmist, we pray with confidence,
“Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you. I say to the Lord: ‘You are my
God.’ Oh Lord, it is you who are my portion and cup; it is you yourself
who are my prize. I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel, who even at
night directs my heart. I keep the Lord ever in my sight: since he is at my
right hand, I shall stand firm.”
Written
by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All
Rights Reserved
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