The freedom of a new people

Cycle C – Sunday 13

FIRST READING: 1 Kings 19:16; 19-21. The Lord said to Elijah, “Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abehneholah you shall anoint to be prophet in your place.” And Elijah found Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who was ploughing, with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he was with the twelfth. Elijah passed by him and cast his mantle upon him. And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow you.” And he said to him, “Go back again; for what have I done to you?” And he returned from following him, and took the yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah, and ministered to him.

SECOND READING: Galatians 5: 1; 13-18. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand fast therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brethren, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love be servants of one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another take heed that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you would. But if you are led by the Spirit you are not under the law.

GOSPEL: Luke 9: 51-62. When the days drew near for Jesus to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him; but the people would not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to bid fire come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village. As they were going along the road, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But he said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

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By anointing Elisha in his place on God’s bidding, Elijah acted in great freedom. He chose the most lowly of persons for a most exulted job, a choice which defies the ‘logic’ of the world. However, Elijah, reflecting God’s preferences and will, is not bound with such a logic; he transcends it. He is able to do this because his spirituality sees no distinction of rank whatsoever; he sees all people as equal, and acts accordingly.

Paul shouts out this belief loud and clear: For freedom Christ has set us free! Perceiving the Church as a community in which no lords exist but only brothers and sisters, Paul proclaims a new social and political economy where all are respected not for whatever social status anyone might have but merely for their dignity as human beings.

This is the discipleship which Jesus preached. It is a discipleship which leaves behind the divisive and unequal structures of the world to take up a new vision to fraternity, liberty and equality. Following Jesus is assuming for oneself his vision for society and the world.

A humanising equality

Year C – Sunday 12

FIRST READING: Zechariah 12: 10-11; 13: 1. Thus says the Lord: “I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of compassion and supplication so that, when they look on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a first-born. On that day the mourning in Jerusalem will be as great as the mourning for Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo. On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.”

SECOND READING: Galatians 3: 26-29. In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male or female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.

GOSPEL: Luke 9: 18-24. It happened that as Jesus was praying alone the disciples were with him; and he asked them, “Who do the people say that I am?” And they answered, “John the Baptist; but others say Elijah; and others, that one of the old prophets has risen.” And he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.” But he charged and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, “The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” And he said to all, “if any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it.”

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The prophet Zachariah lived and preached in Jerusalem to the returned exiles (about 520 BCE). He considered the new age the Israelites were beginning together as a great opportunity to re-establish the dream Moses had centuries before to have a stateless nation based on the concept of equality amongst all tribes. Zachiariah encouraged the people not to give their nation the ruinous structure of the former kingdom which had brought about so much injustice and suffering. They would regret this if they had to do so, and ‘mourn’ their mistake as when their forefathers mourned the death of Josiah, Israel’s greatest king after David, at Megiddo in 609 BCE (2 Kgs. 23: 29).

Paul proclaims the same political levelling where differences of gender, status, ethnicity, etc., will be removed in favour of a humanising equality of all in Christ.

Jesus was ready to die for this ideal. His mission was to remove injustices and suffering through the institution of a new community of equals.

Boundless generosity

Cycle C – Corpus Christi

FIRST READING: Genesis 14:18-20. Melchisedec king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed Abram and said, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hands!” And Abram gave him a tenth of everything.

SECOND READING: 1 Corinthians 11: 23-26. I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the New Covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

GOSPEL: Luke 9:11-17. Jesus spoke to the crowds of the kingdom of God, and cured those who had need of healing. Now the day began to wear away; and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away, to go into the villages and country round about, to lodge and get provisions; for we are here in a lonely place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish – unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Make them sit down in companies, about fifty each.” And they did so, and made them all sit down. And taking the five loaves and the two fish he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke them, and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd. And all ate and were satisfied. And they took up what was left over, twelve baskets of broken pieces.

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What in Greek began to be called ‘eucharistia’, that is thanksgiving, is a curious thing. First of all, Jesus had this intriguing idea of holding a supper which he seems to have wanted it to become in itself an emblem of his life-mission, a ‘remembrance’ of all that he had said and done. Who would have thought of such a thing? Indeed, holding meals on special occasions has always been a part of many cultures, not least the Mediterranean one. But to make this a way of recalling a presence, a mission and an ideal is not at all obvious. Secondly, why call it thanksgiving? The word is actually used fifteen times in the New Testament, none of which occur in the gospels, and none are used in connection with what we call the Eucharist. Thirdly, it is not the meal which came to be called the Eucharist, which would have been understandable, but the actual victuals of the meal.

The answer to these questions might be found in the fact that the most perfect prayer there can be is gratitude. For the most profound experience of God is through his infinite providence. Jesus’ whole life-mission might be said to have been essentially a revelation and a restoration of man’s gratitude towards God. This gratitude is expressed in generosity. The Jews’ comparison of Jesus to Melchisedec in certain respects highlights Jesus’ difference from him. Melchisedec demands a tenth of what Abraham possessed. Jesus demands nothing in return. Mirroring God’s providence, Jesus’ generosity is likewise unlimited, and asks for nothing back from us; he only gives and gives, including his same life.

Paul insists that we remember this always, especially by accepting Jesus’ invitation to unite ourselves with his big Thank You to the Father’s open-handedness and big-heartedness.

Luke depicts such generosity by Jesus’ act of munificence against the apostles’ meanness. Like Jesus, we thank God by being generous in all we possess.

A God personally involved

Cycle C – Lent 2

FIRST READING: Genesis 15: 5-12; 17-18. The Lord took Abram outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” And he believed the Lord; and he reckoned it to him as righteousness. And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to possess.” But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?” He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a she-goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” And he brought him all these, cut them in two, and laid each half over against the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. And when birds of prey came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove them away. As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram; and lo, a dread and great darkness fell upon him. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. On that day the Lord made a Covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the river Euphrates.”

SECOND READING: Philippians 3:17; 4: 1. Brethren, join in imitating me, and mark those who so live as you have an example in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is the belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our commonwealth is in heaven, and from it we await a Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will change our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power which enables him even to subject all things to himself. Therefore, my brethren, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

GOSPEL: Luke 9:28-36. Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his countenance was altered, and his raiment became dazzling white. And behold, two men talked with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and those who were with him were heavy with sleep but kept awake, and they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. And as the men were parting from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is well that we are here; let us make three booths, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he said. As he said this, a cloud came and over-shadowed them; and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. And a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” And when the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silence and told no one in those days anything of what they had seen.

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The concept of a personal God had been unknown before Abraham. Before bringing a number of tribes together in a sort of federation, Abraham had this metaphysical intuition (or inspiration, if you like) that the one living God personally cared for life, and was personally involved in it. Today’s story drives home this message: that God and living beings, humans none the less, can somehow be and communicate on the same par. The transcendent God and immanent living creatures meet on a level of equality. Abraham understood that could, and should, be much so amongst all living creatures themselves. Life is common to all, and there lies the Spirit of the Divine.

Paul is desolate by the actions of those who, closing up within themselves and lording over others, destroy the unity and harmony that God willed for all creation. They are, he maintains, ‘enemies of the cross of Christ’, with which he probably meant opponents of all that which unites humans amongst themselves, and leads them to leave in peace and harmony with creation. With tears in his eyes, he pleads with everybody to ‘stand firm in the Lord’, that is, to hold on to the values which Jesus lived by and taught.

The story of Jesus’ transfiguration demonstrates what some of these values are. Jesus had the right to be lord and master of others. Yet, he opted to be poor amongst the poor; a brother on equal standing with all of his fellow humans. As the messenger of God, Jesus had shown time and time again that the type of community which God willed was one based on equality, respect of every single person, and freedom. Through him—‘my Son, my Chosen’—Jesus shuns all types of domination and supremacy of one over the other. It is in this way, and in no other way, that God is personally involved in our life and in our communal living.