RENEWsletter for June 26, 2010 - 13th Ordinary

Hi, folks--
Well, these readings are a little hard to understand... the First Reading is the story of how two dozen oxen are slaughtered and cooked with the wood of one plow. The Second Reading talks about how we should be careful not to consume each other the way we go on biting and devouring one another? And the Gospel has Jesus uttering some arcane things about dead people burying themselves..

Well, it's in the Bible, so it must be profitable for teaching, or reproof, or admonition, or growth (2 Timothy 3.16)... or maybe all of the above. The Holy Spirit is involved when we read God's word. So let's read prayerfully, asking the Lord to reveal to our spirits what he has for us in these words.

Sunday is the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings are available on the web at: http://www.usccb.org/nab/062710.shtml, and in the Bible at:

1 Kings 19.16b, 19-21
Psalm 16.1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11
Galatians 5.1, 13-18
Luke 9:51-62

The First Reading is the story of the call of Elisha. Elisha is plowing a field with a team of 12 yoke of oxen (1 Kings 19.19). Now that must have been some very hard-packed sod, or Elisha had one humongous plow, because 24 oxen will generate one heck of a lot of power. Elijah the prophet (with a "j"), had been listening to God and he knew that Elisha (with an "sh") was to be his successor (v. 16). When he caught up with Elisha in the field, he didn't say anything. He just threw his cloak over Elisha's shoulders (v. 19 again). Now Elisha knew what that meant. His first response was, "Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye and I will follow you"; Elijah, enigmatically, says "Forget it! I don't need you!" (v. 20). But wait! Elisha did wind up succeeding Elijah. What gives?

Well, Elisha did more than just kiss his father and mother goodbye. He slaughtered those 24 oxen and cooked them in a fire made from the wood of his plowing equipment (it must have been an industrial-sized plow... and then there were all those yokes too) (v. 21). If the oxen were slaughtered, they wouldn't have to be cared for or fed any more. And if the field remained fallow, the meat of the oxen would sustain Elisha's people. So the delay in following Elijah was not for Elisha's personal benefit... it was for the benefit of those he was to leave behind. This might be significant. Let's read on...

The Responsorial Psalm was written by King David (Ps. 16.1), so it was around when Elisha was called. He could have taken assurance in the words of this song. "Lord, you keep me safe, no matter what happens" (v. 5) "I can sleep at night because you protect me" (vs. 7, 8) The call of the Lord is a call that touches body, soul, and spirit (v. 9). Following that call brings joy in life (v. 11).

The Second Reading talks about how dangerous it is to go on biting and devouring one another (Gal. 5.15). St. Paul has some serious problems with the way those Galatians were treating each other. He had preached freedom to these folks knowing that they were inclined to enslave themselves to one doctrine or another (v. 1). But, oh boy, they learned the lesson a little too well (v. 13). They must have been feeling free to castigate one another, because Paul had to slap them down and remind them that their freedom was not an opportunity to satisfy their fleshly desires and appetites. He instead told them they needed to use their freedom to serve one another (v. 13 again)! He may have been drawing on the philosophy of Plato a little, warning of the dangers involved in the flesh (v. 17). The Holy Spirit of God is to be the Guide for behavior (v. 18).

The Gospel Reading from Luke reports on Jesus uttering some hard sayings to an assortment of people he encountered. First of all, we have the people of a Samaritan village barring him from staying there because he was journeying to Jerusalem (Luke 9. 53). The disciples wondered if they should call down fire from heaven on these Samaritan infidels (v. 54). Jesus's answer, surprisingly, was to move on and let them be (v. 55). He had the freedom to let it go.

Then we have 3 examples of the Call of God. The first one said he was ready to follow Jesus. Jesus warned him that he'd be giving up the comforts of a place to live and spend the rest of his days on the road (vs. 57-58). The second claimed he had some duties to fulfill before he could follow Jesus. Jesus told him essentially that those duties were only important to him. Others could take care of them (vs. 59-60). The third, again, claimed all he needed to do was to say goodbye to his family, and Jesus brought up that plow analogy. If you look back, you're going to plow a crooked furrow (vs. 61-62). These guys all needed to satisfy their own needs before they could follow... unlike Elisha who made sure the people who depended on him were taken care of.

What I get out of all these passages is that it is awful easy to assign too much importance to the everyday duties, possessions, and "necessities" of this world. It is the "yoke of slavery" (Gal. 5.1). But in our freedom, we need to be guided by the commandment to love our neighbor. And to follow God's call to the ends of the Earth!

Mahatma Ghandi once said, "I like your Christ. I don't like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike Christ." I wonder what made him say that?

Randy Jones
"Those who cannot be truly free say the yoke is heavy!"