13th Week in Ordinary Time
WHEREVER YOU GO
Introduction
Amos scolds the people of God that they have not answered God’s covenant of love. Not only should they have responded to God but also show it to their neighbor.
“Leave the dead to bury their dead.” Though implying total renunciation in the style of the Jewish rabbis, Jesus stresses more making a new beginning, getting uprooted from the past and breaking with it, so as not even to stay at home until one’s father dies, and accepting the insecurity of following Jesus and living the faith consistently and earnestly. Are we consistent? Are we radicals in the sense demanded by Jesus?
Opening Prayer
Lord, our God,
we share in the sins of the world,
in its injustices and lack of love,
by our silence and our cowardice.
Make us aware that you also call us
to lift up this world above itself
by proclaiming to it the Good News
of your Son, Jesus Christ.
And to make this message of hope believable,
help us to live it consistently,
that people may see that you are our God
of justice, love and peace, now and for ever.
1st Reading – Amos 2:6-10,13-16
Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals. They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name. Upon garments taken in pledge they recline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god. Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as the cedars, and as strong as the oak trees. I destroyed their fruit above, and their roots beneath. It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and who led you through the desert for forty years, to occupy the land of the Amorites. Beware, I will crush you into the ground as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves. Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong man shall not retain his strength; The warrior shall not save his life, nor the bowman stand his ground; The swift of foot shall not escape, nor the horseman save his life.And the most stouthearted of warriors shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalms 50:16BC-17, 18-19, 20-21, 22-23
(22a) Remember this, you who never think of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
17 Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot. To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit.”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother’s son you spread rumors. When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
“Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”
R. Remember this, you who never think of God.
Alleluia – Psalms 95:8
Alleluia, alleluia.
If today you hear his voice,
harden not your hearts.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel – Matthew 8:18-22
When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other shore. A scribe approached and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Another of his disciples said to him, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.”
Intercessions
– Lord, we want to follow you, but do we really have to give up people who are dear to us? Give us courage, we pray:
– Lord, we remember also those who follow you on the way to the cross: the sick, the handicapped, those who suffer. Give them courage, we pray:
– Lord, you know from experience how much it costs a person to respond fully to your call. Give us strength and be our guide, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
Lord our God,
in these signs of bread and wine,
we remember that your Son has called us
to make a new beginning with him.
Give us the strength
to go with him all the way on life’s road.
May we join him in his offering
not only with words here in this celebration
but in the real life of every day,
that we may live with him for ever.
Prayer after Communion
Lord our God,
we thank you for Jesus
and for his message of Good News.
Take away from us the fear
of making ourselves available
to you and to our neighbor
as Jesus demands in his Gospel
and as he has shown us first.
Give us the courage to be radical enough
to commit ourselves to serve,
that we may be true disciples
of Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Blessing
“Follow me,” says Jesus. We have to leave behind everything that is not in conformity with his message. This applies not only to religious and missionaries. We have to understand and accept that the Gospel is radical and asks us at times to take decisions that are even beyond bonds of family and all that is dear to us. May God give you this courage and bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Commentary
1 July 2024
Mt 8:18-22
Follow me
The Gospel aims to urge us to submit to the Lord. Jesus, provides a reality check to the scribe who wants to follow him. His journey involves carrying the cross, emphasizing the cost of discipleship. The scribe appeared to make a generous offer – to accompany the Lord wherever he went. However, following him meant imitating him and being ready to have nothing of one’s own.
To be with Jesus means accepting a situation where our security is not in our material wealth but in our faith in Jesus. “Let the dead bury their own dead” – it’s not clear if the disciple wanted to wait until his father died, or if the father had already passed away and needed to be buried right away. In either scenario, Jesus considered those not dedicated to the Kingdom to be spiritually dead.
Procrastination can become a pattern: after his father’s death, he would find another excuse for delay and another….He is telling us: if you desire freedom, be free now! It is another way of Jesus communicating that our devotion to him must be absolute. How often do we hear justifications like, “Let me reach my retirement, and then I’ll become active in the Church?”
When Jesus calls, we must be ready to let go of everything, even our most cherished societal rituals and obligations. His call is not just a call to follow, but a call to a new way of life. Those who choose to pursue their own self-seeking ways, Jesus says, are spiritually dead. He urges us to leave the burial of the dead to them, to prioritize the call to the Kingdom, which represents a radical commitment to a higher set of values.