THIRTEENTH ORDINARY SUNDAY

 

                           

THIRTEENTH ORDINARY SUNDAY

GOD’S (DIVINE) PRESENCE BRINGS BLESSINGS

2 kings 4;8-11,14-16, Rom 6:3-4, 8-11, Mathew 10: 37-42

Bro. Subhash O. C. D

First reading

In the first reading we have the account of prophet Elisha [the man of god] doing a wonder or blessing the Shunammite woman, because she welcomed the prophet of God, and payed attention to him, invited him with cheerful heart for she found in him the divine presence for she even say’s to her husband that ‘he is a holy man of God “let us make a small roof and put a bed, table, a chair and lamp”. They considered the prophet as a family member. because he used eat in that house whenever he passed the way. She fulfilled all the needs of the prophet at the end of the passage we see prophet blessing the woman that she will bear son in due time for even she did not ask for it.

       In this passage there are two important things that we need to understand.

Firstly, generous and intense hospitality towards god’s people or servant of god.

Because; -we notice from that woman

               - Invitation

               - Generous sharing

               -Hospitality

              – A quest for divine presence.

Secondly Prophet becomes a blessing or God blessed the woman for child through the prophet. Here the prophet became a grace.

Example

·                Abraham and Sarah welcomed the angels sent by god and gave hospitality and they were blessed with a child.

·                lot welcomed the angel and their family was rescued.

·                Zarephath widow well treated prophet Elijah and she also received blessings from the prophet.

 

Second reading

St. Paul tells us that Christ is grace for us. Through Christ we are welcomed as children of God.

St. Paul says Christ is Grace because we are dead in sinfulness. But through baptism we are reborn for eternity. We hear about baptism in the second reading. What happens through baptism. Through baptism we welcome the Holy Spirit, God’s presence to wash us from our sinfulness. There by God also welcomes us or embraces us to be his children. Through baptism we leave the state of sinfulness, and it is a welcome for the new life in Christ. Christ is grace for us because through his death we are dead to sin and through his resurrection we are alive to God, and a life in eternity.

We also see in Romans 8: 2 that for the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.

Gospel

When Jesus says these words that “who ever welcomes you, welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me”.

“whoever gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple- truly I tell you, none of these will lose their reward.”

It means whoever welcomes God, they are rewarded.

Why Jesus uses these words?

Because the some of the Jews who are proud thinking that they are God’s chosen people, theirs is the kingdom of God. They do not accept Christ as the Son of God. They reject Christ and his teachings. They are neglect and indifferent to Christ.

They only read the law but they do not practice the law. They only love God but they hate and reject and failed to the poor neighbors.

That is why Jesus is telling to the disciples that if they welcome you, they welcome me, and my father. If they treat you well, they are treating me and my father. And they are rewarded. 

Example:

·                Zacchaeus welcomed Christ, gave hospitality. And Christ blessed him and said he is saved.

·                Even the centurion welcomed Christ, just a word of Christ healed the servant of centurion.

·                Peter also welcomed Jesus for a meal. And Jesus cured peter’s mother-in-law from her sickness and she began to serve the Lord.

So, in all these cases the encounter with divine presence made difference in the lives of the people.

So also happens to us when we welcome Christ into our lives and families, he makes difference.

Another important thing we need to notice that in three readings, God’s servant becomes the mediator of Grace of God or the blessings of the Lord.

In the first reading prophet Elisha was the channel for the Grace of God, in the second reading Paul says Christ is the Grace of God in whom we have the eternal life or a new life. In the Gospel the disciples are the means of Gods grace to the people of God.

Therefore, the servants of God also must live like prophet holy and should have divinity. So that the people who witness they may also proclaim like that of Shunammite woman that she found God in prophet. Servants of God should become the channels of Grace to the people.

We in today’s Gospel in the beginning words that 37. “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me”.

Priests and consecrated men and women they sacrifice their lives for the glory of God, to spread the good news to the people. They leave their parents and family, friends, relatives, and they get trained for 14 and 15 years for a special purpose, and they are anointed by God. Just to be a Grace for the entire people of God, and to be a blessing for the nations.

Finally, the three readings tell us that “whoever receives or welcomes the servants of God with whole heart, and generous in dealing with them. God blesses them abundantly before they ask.

Therefore, my dear friends let us not neglect and be indifferent towards the consecrated men and women, who come to serve as mediators of God.

 

TWELFTH ORDINARY SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Jer 20:10-13, Rom 5: 12-15, Mt 10:26-33

Bro. Subhash O.C.D

 

The readings of the day invites us to be a testimony to the truth. Also the readingspotray to us that God never leaves his faithful servents in their struggles.

The first reading is takenfrom Jeremiah. It  is called as psalm of lamentation or poem of lametation, when he was rejected by his own people. Jeremiah was active as a prophet from the thirteenth year of Josiah, king of Judah 626 BC, until after the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in 587 BC. This period spanned the reigns of five kings of Judah: Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah.

Jeremiah proclaimed the word of God to these kings of judah and the preist and the disobedient people of God. That they have forgotten the God who brought and saved them from the land of slavary, they have forgotten the God who stood by them in their struggles and misfortunes.

Jeremiah confronted them for their idolatry, unfairbusiness, for rejecting the poor and weak and for forgetting the commands  and responsibilities of the Lord.

For this reason jeremiah was rejected, persecuted by his own people. Pashur one of the priests of  the Judea tries to kill the prophet jeremiah for his heroic confrontation during the time of king Jehoiakim.

So the first reading is taken from this context, where jeremiah feels he is abandoned and the lord left him to the enimies to destroy Jeremiah. Now jeremiah makes a poem of lamentation to God that

l  7.You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed. I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. 8.Whenever I speak, I cry out proclaiming violence and destruction. So the word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. 9. But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,”his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. 10. I hear many whispering, “Terror on every side! Denounce him! Let’s denounce him!”All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, “Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him and take our revenge on him.”

At the end Jeremiah realizes God does not leave him but rather God is with him like a warrior to take venegence against evil. He never lets down his faithful servent Jeremiah.

Jeremiah preached conversion to the people of Judah; but they did not obey or listen to the prophet then the destruction took place. The theology of the book of Jeremiah teaches us that, the obedience to God brings blessings and dissobedience brings curses and destruction

So, the first reading tells us to understand that, God never leaves his faithful servant and if obey him, we receive blessings.

Second Reading:

In the second reading Paul presents to us two figures. Adam and Jesus.

Through Adam’s dissobedience and sin the humanity inherited the sin and death.

But through Jesus (the New Adam0 and his obedience and sacrifice the  humanity inherited the newlife, an eternal life in christ and he made us children of God.

So now what do Paul wants to teach us, comparing Adam and Jesus?

He wants to tell us that, if we live like disobedient children like Adam we inherit sin and death. But if we live like like Christ and accept and believe him, we become obedient children like christ and we receive blessing of newlife in christ.

Gospel:

The Gospel is an account of Jesus instructions to his disciple, that how they must be brave and firm in faith like jesus in their ministry. Because  while they preach the kindom of God they may be rejected by men, torture or try to kill them.

In the Gospel we come across two important things. That are;

Firstly God receives who ever receives Christ. And God rejects whoever rejects Christ and Christ also rejects them.

Secondly Jesus assures them that he will not leave  them. Saying do not fear for those will kill your body but fear God has power to give you life, who has power even to kill body and soul. Do not be frightend on your mission for those persecute you, reject  you, trouble you. But never turn back, be firm in your fiath, stand for truth. For I am with you he says.

Jesus is asking his disciples to live in the light that means so far, the truth was tought in darkness and they were living in hiding, therefore, now bravely and boldly come to the light to proclaim the Good News of the Lord.

Before that we should remember that Mathew  writtes this Gospel to the Jewish people, because the Jewes reject Jesus so also they may reject his disciples and torture them to death.

Prov 9:10 says, fear of the lord is the beggininng of the wisdome.

Psalm 130:2 says, for fear and devotion to you saves us from your wrath.

Jesus also says to his disciples “do not fear” for several times, like, when the disciples were tossed by the waves, when the disciples were scared to preach about Jesus after the death of jesus, they feared that they would die but Jesus says to them fear not  for I am with you.

When we analyse the readings of the day, we understand that,

Jeremiah stood for truth, he was targeted, Jesus came to proclaim the truth, but his own people rejected him and crusified him. Example like John the baptist confronted the evil done by king Herod and his head was taken away from his neck. Like wise apostles and the holy men and women were thretend and even some died for truth.

So also in the journy of our family life or in our ministry, religious life, or consecrated life, in any feiled we also enocouter the same kind of faith  tests or struggles but we should not lose our faith like prophet Jeremiah like Jesus.