14th Sunday C

14^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Readings: Isaiah 66:1‑14      Galatians 6:14‑18        Luke 10:1‑12,17‑20

"Let all the earth cry out to God with joy!"  (Ps 66)  The refrain from this Sunday's responsorial psalm invites the whole of creation to celebrate the Lord's mighty deeds.  As we hear the promise of the Lord's restoration of Jerusalem in the Book of Isaiah and the success of the seventy‑two disciples' mission in the gospel, let us celebrate that the Christian message is gospel, “good news,” of the Lord's victory through Christ over the forces of evil and death.

The Isaiah reading is filled with loving maternal images proclaiming the Lord's care for the Babylonian exiles who are returning to Jerusalem.  It begins with an invitation to rejoice over Jerusalem which is personified as a mother who will now nurse her children.  “Exult, exult with her,/ all you who were mourning over her! Oh, that you may suck fully of the milk of her comfort,/ that you may nurse with delight at her abundant breasts!”  The foundation for this joy is the Lord's promise to restore the city, like a mother comforting her children, and care for the exiles who return to her.  “As nurslings, you shall be carried in her arms,/

and fondled in her lap;/ as a mother comforts her son,/ so will I comfort you;/ in Jerusalem you shall find your comfort.”

In the second reading Paul concludes Galatians with a summary of the chief points of the letter.  He has had to defend his status as an apostle against his opponents at Galatia who were advocating the circumcision of Gentile converts.  Now Paul asserts that his only boast is in "the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" which he contrasts with circumcision. The cross, not circumcision, has defeated the power of sin and begun the process by which the world will be "created anew."  Paul concludes by demanding, "Henceforth, let no one trouble me, for I bear the brand marks (stigmata) of Jesus in my body."  In contrast to his opponents who boasted of the "bodily" observance of circumcision, Paul insists that the scars of his floggings and stoning in the service of the gospel are the authentic marks of a follower of the crucified Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11‑12).

The Gospel is Luke's unique account of the sending of seventy two disciples to continue Jesus' work of healing and proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom.  Earlier in the Galilean ministry the twelve had been sent on a similar mission (see Lk 9:1‑10).  This second sending of seventy two foreshadows the Church's mission to all the nations of the world which number seventy two in the Jewish tradition (see Genesis 10 and Acts 1:8).

In his instructions Jesus stresses the urgency of the disciples' task.  Although he sends them “as lambs in the midst of wolves,” they are to be single-minded and unconcerned with such worldly things as a “walking staff,” “traveling bag,” foot wear, food, or lodgings.  Their initial message is to be Shalom, “Peace.”  Then they are to continue Jesus' work by curing the sick and announcing: "The reign of God is at hand."  Despite the joyful nature of the message, some towns will reject it and thereby bring judgment upon themselves.  For their part, the disciples do not need to be concerned with this.  They are to simply say, "We shake the dust of this town from our feet as testimony against you.  But know that the reign of God is near."

The conclusion of the Gospel returns to the theme of joy established in the Isaiah reading. Upon their return the seventy two are filled with "jubilation" saying, “Master, even the demons are subject to us in your name.”  Jesus first affirms that his power has made their mission successful by saying, "I watched Satan fall from the sky like lightning. See what I have done; I have given you power to tread on snakes and scorpions and all the  forces of the enemy."  But then he goes on to tell them that this power is the basis for even greater joy. "Nevertheless, do not rejoice so much in the fact that the devils are subject to you as that your names are inscribed in heaven."  The disciples who rejoice in sharing Jesus' work of bringing the reign of God will have the ultimate joy of life with God.

13th Sunday C

13^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

         Readings: 1 Kings 19:16,19‑21    Galatians 5:1,13‑18                 

Luke 9:51‑62

As we settle into the more leisurely routine of summer, today's readings shock us by their blunt demands that we break from the ways of the world in responding to God's call to follow Jesus.  "You are my inheritance, O Lord" (Ps 16).  Only those who can pray the words of today's psalm response are capable of the radical commitment of Christian discipleship.

In the first reading from 1 Kings, the great prophet Elijah calls Elisha, the son of Shaphat, to succeed him in a prophetic ministry which will demand a fearless commitment to fighting against pagan influences in Israel (see 1 Kings 17‑19).   The encounter between the two emphasizes Elisha’s willingness to break from his past life and to embrace his mission.  As frequently occurs in the Bible, Elisha is called out of his ordinary life.   He is plowing with twelve yoke of oxen, the mark of an extremely wealthy family.  Despite his comfortable station, Elisha responds with exemplary eagerness, when invested with Elijah's mantle.  The story tells us that he "left the oxen" and "ran after Elijah."  Although Elisha does ask to bid farewell to his family, his slaughtering of the farm equipment and yoke of oxen represents a complete break with the past and a total surrender to God's will.   Neither wealth nor family ties can keep Elisha from following Elijah and becoming his attendant.

In the second reading Paul is clarifying for his Galatian converts what he means by Christian freedom.  On the one hand, Christians are "freed" from "the yoke of slavery" represented by adherence to the Mosaic Law as a way of salvation.  But on the other hand, Christians are not called to "a freedom which gives free rein to the flesh," i.e. "fornication, impurity,  licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,  anger, selfishness, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness,  carousing, and the like" (see 5:19‑21).   Christian freedom is a gift of God's "Spirit" which calls us to serve one another in love and thus to fulfill the purpose of the law.  In the end, this is both more demanding and paradoxically more liberating than submission to a legal code.  Paul reduces the whole of Christian ethics to the following exhortation: “Out of love, place yourselves at one another's service. The whole law has found its fulfillment in this one saying: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’" (5:13‑14).

This Sunday's Gospel begins Luke's unique account of Jesus' long journey to Jerusalem (9:51‑19:17).  Jesus' fateful trek begins in a solemn way; Luke introduces the section with the portentous phrase, "As the time approached when Jesus was to be taken from this world, he firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem . . ." (9:51).  For Luke, Jesus is beginning his "exodus," his divinely prescribed fate to go to Jerusalem to suffer but also enter his glory by being "taken" into heaven (see Luke 24).  In the course of his journey, Jesus will teach his would be disciples the requirements of "following" him.

The radical demands of being a follower of Jesus are evident in the opening incidents of the journey.  Jesus is not received by a Samaritan village which provokes James and John to request, “Lord, would you not have us call down fire from heaven to destroy them.”  Unlike the prophet Elijah who did call down fire to destroy his enemies (see 2 Kings 1), Jesus lives out his own teaching on love of the enemy (see Lk 6:27‑36) by reprimanding his vengeful disciples and moving on to another town. 

Three subsequent encounters with would be followers provide Jesus with the opportunity to give proverbs about the cost of discipleship.  First of all, the disciples must be willing to abandon their earthly homes, like Elisha in the first reading. "The foxes have lairs, the birds of the sky nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head." Jesus' followers also cannot delay the call of the kingdom by waiting to be free of normal family obligations.  The man who wants to wait for his father to die before following Jesus receives the challenge: "Let the dead bury their dead; come away and proclaim the kingdom."  The final encounter is a direct contrast to Elijah's call of Elisha in the first reading.  To the man who wants to take leave of his family at home Jesus says, "Whoever puts his hand to the plow but keeps looking back is unfit for the reign of God."  Each of these proverbs should be heard as a call, rather than a reproach.  Jesus, who is "firmly resolved to proceed toward Jerusalem" where he will meet suffering and death but also enter his glory, is the model for the disciple's commitment.

12th Sunday C

12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Readings: Zechariah 12:10‑11  Galatians 3:26‑29  Luke 9:18‑24

            In this Sunday’s gospel we have Luke's account of  Jesus' first prediction of his passion and resurrection at the close of the Galilean ministry.  For the next twenty weeks we will be following Luke's account of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and learning the demands of Christian discipleship.  This Sunday we hear the central paradox of our Christian faith: in order to save our lives we must, in imitation of Jesus, lose them.  Let each of us begin this journey to the cross and new life with the poignant cry of the responsorial psalm: "My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God" (Ps 63).

            The selection from the Book of Zechariah introduces the themes of suffering and repentance that will be reiterated by Jesus in the Gospel reading.  This section of Zechariah has repeated oracles announcing the future redemption of Judah and Jerusalem from its traditional enemies (12:1‑9).  But the crucial element of renewal will be the "spirit of grace and petition" which the Lord "will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem."  The occasion for the people's repentance from sin will be their gazing upon a mysterious figure "whom they have thrust through," their mourning "for him as one mourns for an only son," and their grieving "over him as one grieves over a first‑born."  The evangelist John applies these words to the crucified Jesus whose side was pierced with a lance (Jn 19:37).  We who aspire to follow Jesus in his journey to Jerusalem need to be moved by the same spirit of repentance.

            In the Galatians reading Paul is arguing that salvation for both Jews and Gentiles comes not through obedience to the Jewish Torah, but through faith in the death and resurrection of the Messiah, Jesus.  This Sunday's reading is the conclusion of a long argument that the true heirs to the promises of salvation made to Abraham are not those who are circumcised or who follow the prescriptions of the Torah, but those who have identified themselves with the crucified Jesus through baptism.  According to Paul, Jesus' saving death has obliterated all the divisive social distinctions of his time. “There does not exist among you Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female.  All are one in Christ Jesus.  Furthermore, if you belong to Christ you are the descendants of Abraham, which means you inherit all that was promised” (3:28‑29).

            The gospel reading follows directly from the account of the return of the Twelve and the Feeding of the Five Thousand (9:10‑17).  It is composed of three parts: the dialogue between Jesus and Peter about Jesus' identity; Jesus' announcement of his suffering, rejection, death and resurrection; and his teaching on the conditions of discipleship. 

            Throughout chapter nine, Luke focuses on two closely related questions: the role of the Twelve and Jesus' identity.  At the beginning of the chapter Jesus gives the Twelve a share in his ministry in overpowering demons and disease and in proclaiming the kingdom of God in the villages of Galilee.  In the feeding of the five thousand, he instructs the apostles about how they are to satisfy the needs of the crowd through the Eucharist.  In the midst of these stories Luke gives Herod Antipas' reaction to Jesus. “Some were saying, ‘John has been raised from the dead’; others were saying, ‘Elijah has appeared’; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’ But Herod said, ‘John I beheaded. Who then is this about whom I hear such things?’” (9:7‑9).

            Now Jesus introduces his disciples to a whole new dimension of his own identity and of their mission.  While at prayer in solitude, Jesus asks them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”  They give the same opinions that Herod had heard, and, when Jesus asks, “But who do you say that I am?”  Peter responds, “The Messiah of God.”  But Jesus rebukes the disciples and directs them “not to tell this to anyone.”  Instead, he tells them that “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”  And immediately Jesus adds, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”   Although the disciples do not yet comprehend this feature of their own mission in imitation of  Jesus (see 9:45), he is preparing them for the greatest lesson of  all: “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it” (9:24).

11^th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

Readings: 2 Samuel 12:7-10, 13         Galatians 2:16, 19-21              Luke 7:36-8:3

            “Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.”  This refrain for the responsorial psalm (Psalm 32) captures the theme of this Sunday’s liturgy.  David, Paul, and the sinful woman in Luke all come to forgiveness through first admitting their sin.  Let us humbly follow their example and come to know the peace of the Lord’s forgiving love. 

            Despite the largely favorable picture of David in the story of his rise from a shepherd boy to becoming king of both Judah and Israel (1 Samuel 16 -2 Samuel 7), the last chapters of David’s reign chronicle his and Israel’s nearly tragic degeneration because of his sins (2 Samuel 11-20; 1 Kings 1-2).   After receiving from the prophet Nathan the glorious promise that his dynasty would last forever (2 Samuel 7), David, in typical despotic fashion, commits adultery with Bathsheba and orchestrates the murder of her husband Uriah during a war with the Ammonites (2 Samuel 11).  The Lord sends Nathan to confront David with his sins in the unforgettable parable of the ewe lamb in response to which the king condemns himself (see 1 Samuel 12:1-6).  Our reading begins with Nathan’s judgment oracle which first recalls the Lord’s gracious guidance of David. “Thus says the Lord God of Israel ‘I anointed you king of Israel.  I rescued you from the hand of Saul.  I gave you your lord’s house and your lord’s wives for your own.  I gave you the house of Israel and of Judah.  And if this were not enough,  I could count up for you still more.”  This past favor makes David’s ruthless actions all the more reprehensible.  “Why have you spurned the Lord and done evil in his sight?  You have cut down Uriah the Hittite with the sword;  you took his wife as your own, and him you killed with the sword of the Ammonites.”

            David’s punishment will fit his crime.  Nathan announces that “the sword shall never depart from your house.”  To his great credit David admits his sin without excuse: “I have sinned against the Lord,” and Nathan in turn assures him of the Lord’s forgiveness: “The Lord on his part has forgiven your sin: you shall not die.”  But, although David’s life is spared, the son Bathsheba has conceived will die, and the sword will nearly destroy the house of the king who displays a fatal weakness for indulging his sons.  The last chapters of David’s reign are marked by the death of three more of his sons as the royal family is ravaged by incest, fratricide, attempted patricide, and civil war (2 Samuel 13-20; 1 Kings 1-2).  In the midst of this ordeal, David is forced to abandon the city of Jerusalem as a chastened and penitent sinner (see 2 Samuel 15-16) and return only after his son Absalom has died (2 Samuel 17-20).

            The Epistle is taken from the conclusion of Paul’s defense of his apostolic credentials at the beginning of Galatians (Gal 1:10-2:21).  Paul is recounting an unpleasant incident at Antioch in which he chided Cephas (Peter) for being two-faced about the obligatory character of the Jewish dietary laws (2:11-14).  Paul is convinced that one must choose between justification through observance of the Torah or through belief in the saving death of Christ. The section ends with Paul’s statement of his gospel.  The “we” throughout refers to Peter and Paul, Jews by birth, who are not justified by their observance of the works of the law, but by their faith in and identification with the crucified Christ whose death and resurrection has brought them forgiveness of sin and the grace of God.  “I have been crucified with Christ; yet I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me; insofar as I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who has loved me  and given himself up for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law,

then Christ died for nothing.”

            The Gospel reflects a favorite theme in Luke: self-righteous Pharisees and scholars of the Torah reject Jesus, while sinners believe in his message of forgiveness. Simon the Pharisee invites Jesus to eat with him, but he is offended when the “prophet” allows an anonymous sinful woman to touch him with extravagant gestures of gratitude.  He says to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.”  Jesus, knowing what is in Simon’s mind, answers by asking him to judge the parable of the two debtors which forces the Pharisee to admit that the one who is forgiven more will show greater love.  Jesus then goes on to contrast Simon’s failure to show the normal courtesies to him as a guest with the woman’s tender acts of gratitude for being forgiven her sins. “Do you see this woman?  When I entered your house, you did not give me water for my feet, but she has bathed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You did not give me a kiss, but she has not ceased kissing my feet since the time I entered.  You did not anoint my head with oil, but she anointed my feet with ointment.  So I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven because she has shown great love.  But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little.”  The scene ends with the woman being sent on her way with the assurance, “Your sins are forgiven. . . .  Your faith has saved you; go in peace”.  Let us admit our sins, turn from them and be open to Jesus’ gift of peace.