June
26, 2016
13th
Sunday in Ordinary Time
1
Kings 19:16b, 19-21; Psalm 16; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62
One author said
that one way of capturing monkeys is to make a trap by cutting a small hole in
a box and put some food inside it. The hole must be large enough for the monkey
to put in its hand and it should be too small for the monkey to withdraw its
hand once it grabbed the food inside. So
the monkey has two choices: It can let go of the food and run away, or it can
hold on to the food and get caught. This strategy is successful because most of
the time, monkeys never give up in holding on to the food inside the box.
My brothers and
sisters perhaps the monkey is a good image of us (of course not physically, but
spiritually). When we cannot let go of things that hinder us from following the
Lord, we get trapped. This is the theme of our readings for today. In order to
follow Christ, we must be free from things and attachments that can hinder us
from being disciples of Christ. What kind of freedom are we talking about here?
What kind of freedom must a disciple have to follow Christ more closely?
Let
us reflect on this in three points.
FREEDOM
FROM SLAVERY TO SIN. Paul in the second reading tells us that Jesus has already set us
free. But this should never lead us to think that since we are already free, we
can do whatever we want. This is not true freedom. True freedom is freedom from
dictates of sin and selfishness. Yes, Jesus has set us free from slavery to
sin. But if we continue to give in to the demands of the flesh, to the demands
of sin, we are back to slavery. Paul reminds us to be vigilant because the
desires of flesh, desires that may lead us back to the slavery of sin is very
much alive in us. Let us not take for granted the freedom that Jesus has given
us. We are already free from the effects of sin. Let us not allow ourselves to
be enslaved again by the dictates of the flesh, by sin and selfishness.
FREEDOM
FROM WORLDLY ATTACHMENTS. In the first reading, when Elisha was called by
the Lord to succeed Elijah, Elisha went home to say goodbye to his family. This
is a natural thing to do. When you are called to a mission that will bring you
to distant places, you say good bye to your family. But Elisha went home not
just to have a farewell dinner. He killed the animal he was using for work and
he used his wooden equipment as fuel – he burned it to boil and cook the
animal. This is symbolic of Elisha’s detachment from his former way of life. He
disposed everything he used in work so that he may be free from his former way
of life, free from any worldly attachments – any property, riches or anything
that can take away his focus and attention to fulfil the mission God gave him.
Elisha here is giving us a lesson – when you receive a calling from God, you
must be ready to be totally available to respond. And nothing – even your most
significant relationships, even your possessions should hinder you to fulfil
your mission. Where will this lead us?
FREEDOM
TO FOLLOW CHRIST. In the gospel, Jesus met potential disciples who wanted to be His
disciple. But Jesus wants to make it clear to them that following him will not
give them comfortable life. Following Jesus will bring us many discomforts in
life. That is why he said, “foxes have lairs, birds have nest but I am
homeless.” Not only that. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem not to have a grand
vacation but to face His death. It is clear that following Jesus is not having
an easy life. He was telling the potential disciples, are you really free to
face those things? Are you really free to follow me? Are you free from worldly
attachments? Are you free from slavery to sin? Jesus here is telling us, if we
want to follow Jesus more closely, we must totally available – free from anything
that can hinder us from following closely Jesus.
In this mass let
us ask for that grace – to continue our struggle to be free from slavery to
sin, free from worldly attachments so that we can be really free to follow
Christ. Amen.
