6-28-26 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time
13th Sunday Ordinary Time
6-28-26
When I was
a little boy, about 11 years old, I and
my two brothers (ages 13 and 8) were on our way with my parents for a day at
the beach. We were sitting in the back
seat of my parents’ car; my dad was driving and my mom was in the front seat
beside him. I do not know what started it, but my older
brother got into an argument with me, a fight of pushing and shoving and
exchanging blows developed. It got so intense
that my father raised his voice for us to settle down. When his pleas were not adhered to, he finally
pulled over to the side of road to deal with my brother and I differently than
just saying words to us. Suddenly, my
older brother jumped out of the car and ran off. While I was “licking my wounds,” I was also very
concerned because my father did not chase after him but rather closed the door to
the car and continued our journey to the beach. I asked him to please turn around and go look
for my brother, but he said, “he will be back, he knows his way home." All that
day, even while at the beach, I thought of my brother and what might be happening to him. I
prayed that he would be okay and would come home. Later that night after we got home, my brother
showed up at our house. He was let into the house, but nothing was said by him
or my parents. He was simply absorbed
back into the normal family routine. I, from time to time, thought of this
episode and wondered why he ran away; why my father did not punish him or me, and
why nothing was said about it anymore. His
rebellion and anger were accepted but he was not rejected because of it. As I reflected on
the gospel for this weekend, I thought
about those lines where Jesus says you will have to love yourself less, in order to sacrifice yourself for the mission
of being a disciple, a follower of
Christ. That means that things such as personal
comfort, influence, power over others, holding
grudges etc. are to be surrendered in exchange for reaching out in forgiveness.
Such would be the price that was demanded of apostles
in order to go forward with the mission
that Jesus is entrusting to them. What about
us? Is the same asked of us as disciples
of Jesus? This weekend it will be my turn to preach at all the masses at our church. And as I thought of that, I saw in my mind’s
eye, all of the people sitting in the
pews at church and all the places they could have been besides sitting in
church. For example, some may have loved to
be able to sleep-in on Sunday mornings rather than going to Mass, but here they
are instead. Some could have preferred to go off and play
golf or go to the beach instead of attending mass, but here they are instead. Mass is
where the community comes together and gathers around the table of the Lord to share
with the Lord the most sacred of all meals. Those in the pews have chosen the Lord over
any other comfort or plans they could have made. At the end of Mass, as the Deacon, I will
dismiss parishioners not because the mass is over, but rather because now, it
is time for those in the pews to go back
to their lives, and return to the world in order to give witness to not only to what is their
faith, but to be the witnesses of their love for Jesus as the most important person
in their lives. As they leave and return to their families and their lives, they
are renewed again from the food that Jesus has provided and from the power that
the Spirit has empowered within them. Jesus
is our redeemer, our Lord, our God, our friend, our brother, he is our hope, an ever-lasting presence that waits for us, at
each mass to return home to him. When we
come to mass, we return to our Father’s house just like my brother did, with all
sorts of imperfections. Jesus, like my
father and mother, does not condemn us, he just rejoices with us that we are
home, and at the table with him. At
times in order to maintain that
relationship with Jesus, and to be true to the mission of being Jesus’
disciple, it may cost us much in our
day-to-day lives as we try also to witness to that relationship with him that we
have chosen. It will not always be easy,
as it was not easy for the apostles, even though they were empowered with great
gifts. Many of them were persecuted and
scourged. Some were physically crucified
for their belief, their relationship, and their faithfulness to witnessing to
being a disciple of Jesus Christ. And at
those moments of crisis and suffering, they remembered Jesus’ words that “not a
hair on their heads is forgotten” (Matt 10:30) by God. This gospel asks of us- What has it cost us
to be disciple of Christ? And even when
the apostles experienced rejection by the world, they knew God was
watching them and would provide for them
even a “cup of water” (Matthew 10:42), a cup of compassion when it was needed. Just like that cup of compassion he provided
for Jesus, when on the cross Jesus cried out “I thirst.” Someone went to get him a sip of wine to
quench his thirst and ease his pain. We do not know who was the one who was brave
enough, kind enough, to do that. But
even that person, who perhaps was a nonbeliever, like the woman Elisha blessed in
our first reading this Sunday, even that person will receive a reward for his or
her kindness to Jesus. And even in living out our own discipleship, this
is why the “cup of cold water” is such a powerful image. It stands for all the
practical ways we make God’s love visible. A listening ear. A word of
encouragement. A meal delivered to a sick neighbor. A forgiving response when harsh words could have
been spoken. A visit to someone who
feels forgotten. Most discipleship is
lived out in such ordinary moments. Few people are asked to perform dramatic
acts of heroism. The larger challenge is to be faithful in the small
opportunities for love placed directly in front of us.1 Sunday’s
gospel is the end of the 0th chapter of Matthew‘s gospel and highlights the commissioning
of the twelve apostles. The opening of the next chapter in Matthew’s
gospel, chapter 11, shows that Jesus leaves the twelve apostles and goes off to teach and preach by himself. When I
reflected on that scene in Chapter 11, I could almost see the twelve apostles going off themselves 2 x 2 slowly,
perhaps, in all different directions to carry the message and the blessings they have been given by
Jesus. As we leave the table of the Lord
today and return to our lives, we also carry a message and a blessing for all
those we will encounter. Unlike the
Apostles, we may not be able to heal everybody’s illness or sickness, we may
not be able to solve everyone’s concerns or their dilemmas, but we can stand
beside them, we can hold them in prayer. In fact, we may be the only ones who pray for
them. The Father will hear our prayers
and will answer them in the way that He feels is best. Through our faith, given to us by Jesus, and
empowered through the Holy Spirit,
whatever that answer is to our prayers, we too can say in our hearts with full
confidence say, “thy will be done” (Matt 6:10). And like the prophet Elisha in the first
reading this weekend, we will have blessed them and prayed on their behalf to
our Father with all confidence and trust as Jesus did. And in this way, we too shall fulfill our
missionary call like that of the apostles, and thereby we too shall share in that mission
to:
“Renew the face of the earth.” (Psalm 104:30)
1. 1. SundaySermons.com
