{"id":791,"date":"2019-06-28T12:31:08","date_gmt":"2019-06-28T12:31:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=791"},"modified":"2019-06-28T12:33:09","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T12:33:09","slug":"30-june-2019-c-thirteenth-sunday-of-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/?p=791","title":{"rendered":"30 June 2019 (C) Thirteenth Sunday of Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A. The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection & Dialogue: <\/strong>Christians are\ncalled to liberty, freedom.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A. The Bible as\nGuide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings)<\/em><\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction to the\nreadings.<\/em> Today\u2019s readings are about a call by God to his service, to be\nprophetic witnesses to him, and the consequence of this call for one\u2019s personal\nlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

First Reading <\/em>(1 Kings 19:16, 19-21). Elisha rose and followed Elijah. <\/em>Prophecy in the strict sense can\nbe said to have begun with those we know from the Bible as writing prophets,\nHosea, Amos, Isaiah and a long line of others. These individual prophets had a\nprehistory, going back to Elijah and his successor Elisha. The Bible presents\nthose, particularly Elijah, as having followed the Lord\u2019s command, the Lord\u2019s\nword. Their activity could be regarded as the beginning of the prophetic\nmovement in Israel\nand was held in high regard. Both Elijah and Elisha had certain unsavoury\nelements to their lives, with regard to respect for the lives of some regarded\nas dangers to God\u2019s plan (Elijah\u2019s slaughter of the prophets of Baal; similar\nactivity by kings brought to power by Elisha). However, in the religious\ntradition of Israel\nsuch elements could be set aside or forgotten, and that early prophetic age\nheld as a model of God\u2019s call to prophets and their response to this call.\nJesus seems to have held this earlier prophetic age in this light, at least as\npresented by the evangelist Luke who presents some of Jesus\u2019 teaching on call\nto discipleship against the background of the Elijah and Elisha stories. (See\nalso the first reading and Gospel for the tenth Sunday.) Today\u2019s reading is one\nof a number of stories in the Bible about Elisha (known as \u201cthe Elisha cycle\u201d,\nas distinct from those of the \u201cElijah cycle\u201d). The prophet Elijah, after a\ntroublesome career of the religion of the God of Israel against pagan gods,\ncame as a broken person and encountered the Lord at Horeb, the Mount of\nrevelation. There he is told to anoint Elisha as his successor. Elisha in\ntoday\u2019s reading is presented as a prosperous farmer. The cloak symbolizes the\nperson and the rights of its owner. By placing it on Elisha Elijah seems to\nindicate his power over him; Elisha will become Elijah\u2019s servant and will\nfollow him. He need not follow Elijah his master immediately. There is no\nhurry. He may say goodbye to his father and mother. By destroying his plough\nand oxen Elisha formally renounced his old way of life, to follow his new\nmaster in the prophetic line. In the New Testament others, in line with Elisha,\nwill follow Christ promptly (Matthew 9:9; Mark 1:16-20; Luke 5:27-28). Others,\nlike the persons in today\u2019s Gospel reading (Luke 9:57-62), will be less prompt,\nand will get replies from Jesus that should have reminded them of the Elisha\nstory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Responsorial Psalm <\/em>(Psalm 15[16]). O Lord, it is you who are my portion.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second Reading <\/em>(Galatians 5:1, 13-18). You were called to liberty. <\/em>Liberty is a word to move\nminds and hearts in any age and in any civilization. The Greeks prided\nthemselves in the possession of it in their democratic system \u2013 for the free,\nnot the slave population, that is. It was the same for the Romans. Likewise for\nthe Jews. Their Mosaic Law guaranteed their freedom. In a discussion Jesus is\nrepresented in the Gospel of John (John 8:31-34) as saying to the Jews who\nbelieved in him: \u201cIf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and\nyou will know the truth, and the truth will make you free\u201d. Although unwilling\nsubjects to Roman rule, they answered him: \u201cWe are descendants of Abraham and\nhave never been in bondage to any one. How is it that you say: \u2018You will be\nmade free?\u2019\u201d. Jesus\u2019 reply is: \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, every one who\ncommits sin is a slave of sin\u201d. Paul was dealing with the same question in his\nletter to the Galatians. He could tell his readers that before their\nconversion, when they did not know God, they were in bondage (Galatians 4:8).\nChristians are children of the free woman (Sarah), not of the slave (Hagar)\n(Galatians 4:31). The Jewish law for Paul means bondage rather than freedom.\nThe Galatians (and all believers) were free from the Jewish law. Paul had to\nensure that any such freedom did not lead to moral licence, self-indulgence\n(literally in Paul\u2019s words, and other translations: \u201copportunity for the\nflesh\u201d). There was a danger of being ensnared, enslaved, in a false concept of\nfreedom. Paul sets out his understanding of what living Christian freedom\nmeans. It means living the law of love, of serving one\u2019s neighbour. Paul is\nquite aware of the weakness of human nature (\u201cthe flesh\u201d), which will\nconstantly be a danger to Christian living, at war with divine guidance through\nthe Holy Spirit. The Christian code of conduct is not just an abstract written\ntext. It implies a relationship with God and the Holy Spirit, and constant\nprayer to be guided by the Holy Spirit to love our Christian freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Gospel<\/em> (Luke 9:51-62). Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem. I will follow\nyou wherever you go.<\/em> The opening words squarely put this entire reading in\nits proper context. Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem, a journey that began in one sense\nafter Peter\u2019s profession of faith. Jesus, in reply to Peter\u2019s profession, made\nthe first prediction of his passion and death, reminding all his followers that\nthey, too, must daily take up their cross and follow him (last Sunday\u2019s Gospel\nreading). Jesus goes to Jerusalem\nto \u201cbe taken up\u201d, to be exalted on the cross at death and at his resurrection\nand ascension. This is the ultimate aim of his life and ministry and he\nresolutely took the road for Jerusalem,\nfrom where his work through the Church will be continued. He sent messengers\nahead, presumably to prepare lodgings for his group. The anti-Jewish Samaritans\nwould not welcome pilgrims to the rival shrine in Jerusalem. James and John, probably thinking\nof the prophet Elijah (2 Kings 1:9-12), call for heavenly revenge. Elijah as a\nservant of God\u2019s word was held in respect by Jesus, but not for his vindictive\nactions. Jesus and his chosen band did not find whereon to lay their head in\nthis Samaritan village. The three sayings of Jesus that follow are intended to\nillustrate the nature and urgency of discipleship. The refusal of the Samaritan\nvillage to accept messengers arranging accommodation illustrate Jesus\u2019\nsituation during the three years of his ministry in Galilee:\nwhere did he and his chosen followers spend their nights? There is no answer.\nPossibly out of doors. The second saying, on following Jesus over first burying\none\u2019s father, has been considered offensive over the centuries, by both Jew and\nnon-Jew. Jesus, as his Jewish tradition, respected family tradition and respect\nfor the dead and due mourning. Jesus\u2019 point here seems to be that the demands\nof the Gospel ministry take precedence over family ties. One common\ninterpretation of the saying is that the spiritually dead should bury the\nphysically dead. For those conversant with the Elisha story the third saying\nmight contrast the urgency of the Christian calling to active following of\nChrist with that leisurely one of Elisha. With regard to the image of the\nplough and ploughing, we should not envisage a modern plough drawn by horses,\nor a tractor, but rather a primitive Galilee\nplough drawn by an ox or oxen with a driver behind. Should he look back, the\nstraight furrow might be lost. The point of the saying might be that anyone\nwishing to be at the service of Jesus and the Gospel must have a precise aim,\nfrom which he or she should not deviate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

B. Reflection &\nDialogue<\/strong>: Christians are called to freedom.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s readings call for\nreflection on a question that is as old as human freedom and revealed religion,\nnamely the place of freedom of thought and action in the society in which we\nlive. It is consoling that the question has been treated by Jesus (John\u2019s\nGospel) and Paul before our day. The question has become more acute since the\nphilosophical and cultural movement and thought of the eighteenth century,\ncommonly known as the Enlightenment. With this came a desire and movement to\nhave human thought and activity determined by what the human mind and senses\ncan perceive without acceptance of involvement from divine revelation. The\nsituation has become more acute in our own day when this movement has become\nconnected with an active atheism. Contemporary atheism holds that religion, of\nits very nature, thwarts man\u2019s emancipation through economic and social\nliberation by raising man\u2019s hopes in a future life, thus both deceiving him and\ndiscouraging him from working for a better form  of life on earth. The movement would have\nreligious education removed from primary schools: pupils should be taught how\nto think, not what to think. This is something with which we will have to live,\nand it is good that believers are aware of the issues involved. The Church is\nwell aware of this situation and deals with it at some length in the Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the\nModern World<\/em> (paragraphs 19-21) of Vatican II (1965), and the new Catechism of the Catholic Church<\/em> (par.\n2123-2126), documents usefully consulted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) B. Reflection & Dialogue: Christians are called to liberty, freedom. A. The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sunday-readings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":792,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/791\/revisions\/792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundayscriptureonline.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}