Sunday, June 26
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
“You are my inheritance, O Lord.”
Reflection
One of the things we know is that being a disciple of Jesus is not an easy thing to do, but it has tremendous benefits. If we look at the commonalities of our readings, we see that, while some people are agreeing to become disciples, others are rejecting the whole idea of discipleship. When we wonder why this extreme variance happens, we can chalk it up to one thing: free will. You see, we are free to choose to follow Jesus and become his disciples, just as we are free to say “No” to Jesus’ offer of a life of faith and the challenges that come with it.
In the reading from First Kings, we see Elijah the prophet of God coming to the end of his life as a spokesman for God. For years Elijah has suffered the hardships that come with that job and now someone needs to take up the work that Elijah has been doing. In His divine knowledge, God has chosen Elisha for this job. Elijah goes and finds Elisha working on his family farm. Elijah recruits Elisha by throwing his cloak over hm and after saying goodbye to his family and slaughtering his oxen to feed his servants, Elisha embarks on the mission to replace Elijah. It will not be an easy life, but Elisha is ready for discipleship.
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he tells the people that they are now free. This freedom comes from the gift of the Spirit, who frees us from the law of Moses with its sacrificial aspects and brings us into the love of God—a love that caused Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. Paul tells us that as disciples of God, we must live out that love through caring for our neighbor. This is something that we can struggle to achieve. But Jesus shows us the way.
In the Gospel, Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem to fulfill his mission on the cross and the people of Samaria will not let him travel through their town.
Rejecting the disciples’ offer to destroy a village with fire from heaven Jesus acts with love even for these people who reject him. More rejections await Jesus on his way, but the offer of discipleship is something that he gives to all those who he comes across. We too are offered the gift of discipleship. We can choose to accept it or reject it. We must choose wisely, even though the way of discipleship might be hard, the rewards are great.
Stay strong,
Deacon Dare
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