Word: The power of God’s spoken word deepens our compassion, enables us to forgive, and makes us steadfast in following Jesus.
Order: “I tell you, arise!” (Lk 7:14b)
Reflection:
The month of June is traditionally dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the greatest expression of divine love. It starts with the Feast of the Sacred Heart, celebrated on the first Friday of June. Jesus asks us to be compassionate, self-giving and forgiving of others. He sets the condition by which we, as Christians, follow Him with steadfast hearts detached from worldly priorities and focused on being His true disciples.
Our theme for the 10th Sunday in Ordinary Time is: The spoken word of God empowers us to be compassionate to those in need. The mercy of Jesus is not only an emotion; it is the power that gives life. The Gospel (Luke 7:11-17) narrates the story of a widow. Jesus arrives in Naim, a village in Galilee, as a funeral is taking place. A boy, the only son of the widow, is being carried for burial. Jesus, immediately fixes His eyes on the crying mother – “and when the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her,”(Luke 7:13). This compassion is God’s love for man. It is His mercy. This is the attitude of God in contact with human misery, with our destitution, our suffering, our anguish. This great love and mercy of God bears the fruit of life. Jesus says to the widow “do not weep” and calls the boy to awaken him, as if from sleep. God’s mercy gives life and because of this, we proclaim His goodness and declare: “You change my mourning into dancing,” (Ps 30:12)
The 11th Sunday in Ordinary Time carries the theme: The spoken word of God empowers us to share the fruits of forgiveness. This Sunday’s readings give us another chance to rejoice in the mercy of God, which liberates us from the trap of sin and restores us to wholeness. Temptation is effective because it makes sin appear as a good and desirable choice. But looking at the reality of sin, we discover that it is deceptively harmful and ugly. We try to hide its ugliness. We rationalize when we commit them, or we substitute words that are socially acceptable when talking about our sins. Simon, the Pharisee, and the sinful woman project two different attitude, judgmental righteousness and contrition, respectively. Jesus sees both Simon and the woman as sinners, but He never rejects either of them. He comes with forgiveness for both of them, but it turned out that only the woman is truly repentant and grateful. Simon thinks he deserves the Lord’s presence, but he is not even grateful that the Lord visited his home. Jesus saw the sincerity of the woman’s repentance in embracing the presence of Jesus, bathing his feet with her tears, wiping them with her hair, and anointing his head and feet with ointment. Thus she earned the fruit of her repentance – inner joy and peace. When we acknowledge our sins before God and ask His forgiveness, He will set us free from its bondage – “I acknowledge my sin to you, my guilt I covered not, I said, ‘I confess my faults to the Lord,’ and you took away the guilt of my sin,” (Ps 32:5).
The spoken word of God empowers us to renounce the lure of worldly attachment. This is our theme for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Jesus, the suffering Messiah, calls us to follow Him personally. As we take up our cross each day out of love for Jesus and our neighbor, we unite ourselves with Him in His sufferings, so that His risen life may be fully shared to the world. As Christians, our identity is inseparable from the identity of Christ, following His example of selfless love and a life of righteousness and service, even at the risk of being persecuted or ostracized. Indeed we are called to die to self, to renounce our focus on the self and to follow instead, the self-giving examples of Jesus’ unconditional love. God does not intend suffering. He is not the source of pain and evil. It is our own helpless human condition that is the cause of our struggles and difficulties, compounded by our excessive striving for success and our worldly attachments. To be sure, the self-giving love we are called to give requires much self-denial, detachment and sacrifice, but Jesus assures us that is it the surest way to gain eternal life, and reap the fruit of love, peace, harmony and joy – “Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it,” (Lk 9:24b)
The theme for the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time is: The spoken word of God empowers us to be committed and steadfast in following Christ. How does one follow Jesus? To follow Jesus requires firm resolve and courageous action, a readiness to take responsibility. The cost of discipleship is high – we are to throw our whole weight behind the plough, commit to hard work, and never look back in half-hearted commitment; instead, we are to plod steadily ahead to accomplish the task before us, and to remain steadfast, especially when the mission is difficult. Discipleship means not just enthusiasm but firm commitment, involving painful choices sometimes. To follow Jesus is a call to life and to fulfillment. It demands a courageous and determined response, the sincerity of which is reflected in the quality of loving service that marks our lives. But, as Jesus has promised, we have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us and give us perseverance. We can then claim the Promise this week: “Live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.” (Gal 5:16)
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