13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (June 25-26, 2016)

The great journey begins.  ‘Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.  Jesus has already set Jerusalem as the heart of the Gospel story.  In going to Jerusalem, Jesus was walking the road to his death and resurrection.  Jesus knew full well that in going to Jerusalem, he was opening himself up to the plan of His heavenly Father.
Those who journey with Jesus in every generation must make Jerusalem their goal.  For Jesus journey to Jerusalem is no simple travelog but a vocation to discipleship and mission that will indeed take the rest of our lives.  For you and I to set our faces toward Jerusalem is the surrender we must make when we choose to follow God’s call in our lives – wherever that may lead us.  In other words, the Gospel invites us to reflect on the cost of discipleship.But well before we examine our own whole or half-hearted response to Jesus’ invitation to discipleship, he sets us straight on how we are to judge others’ response to God’s call.  Jesus frankly says:  “It is none of our business.”  Jesus demands we not judge how others respond.

But well before we examine our own whole or half-hearted response to Jesus’ invitation to discipleship, he sets us straight on how we are to judge others’ response to God’s call.  Jesus frankly says:  “It is none of our business.”  Jesus demands we not judge how others respond.  From the Gospel account, Jesus sent his messengers ahead of him.  On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.  When the disciples James and John saws this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”  Jesus turned and rebuked them and they journeyed to another village.  Jesus is saying to James and John:  “It’s none of your business how others respond.”

Jesus’ decisive command to James and John that they express commitment to him through compassion for others.   St.Paul writes that we must abandon the violence of biting and devouring one another, choosing instead to serve one another through love.
Our focus is how do we respond to our call to discipleship of the Lord Jesus.  I suggested in the bulletin articles three possible ways for us to respond to God’s call:

•  No thanks.
• Maybe later.
• Be it done to me according to your Word.  That of course is Mary’s response to the angel Gabriel as she accepted the call of God in her life.

 In the Gospel, Jesus responses to would-be disciples concretize the uncompromising primacy of discipleship.  A would-be disciple of Jesus said, “”Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”  The message here is that the call to discipleship is not to be treated as a retirement plan:  “Thanks Lord.  As soon as I get my inheritance and all my affairs settled I’m catch up with you.” 
  
The original twelve for all their imperfections and their idiocracies were willing to leave everything in following Jesus.  Their response to the Lord was immediate and complete.
What are willing to leave behind in order to respond to God’s call and what are unwilling to leave behind?

As we journey with Jesus to Jerusalem, what really comes first for me:  Kingdom of God or values of our culture?  People the Lord calls us to serve or my pet projects?  The friends who value our time or our portfolio investments?  What is our attitude toward our Muslim neighbors during this month of Ramadan?   Are they to be loved or hated? 
What are we to think of a sign on our Church property that reflects a desire to connect with and pray with our Muslim neighbors?  Recall again the words of the Gospel when James and John asked Jesus:  “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?”  Jesus rebuked them.

Jesus’ decisive command to James and John was that they are to express commitment to him through compassion for others.  We must abandon the violence of biting and devouring one another, choosing instead to serve one another through love.
We need to ask ourselves if we bargain with Jesus over the terms of discipleship sometimes saying:  “No thanks.”  Sometimes “Maybe later,” and at other times, “Be it done to me according to your word.”

What happens when you experience the pain of a miscarriage?  How is it for you who face unemployment?  How do you come to terms with brokenness in your family life?  When am I too tired, too pre-occupied, to “into myself,” in these real life situations, how do I bargain with the Lord?

What is holding you back right now from following the Lord more fully in your life?
The Scriptures invite us to consider or reconsider our vocation to discipleship of the Lord Jesus.  If we are on the brink of making a life decision, we are invited with a Gospel freedom to follow Jesus beyond reasonable expectations  -- the call to priesthood, the diaconate, the religious life, the lay ecclesial ministry?   You will never regret generosity in responding to God’s call in your life.

If we have traveled further down the road of discipleship, we are prodded to ask if we’ve settled for moderation over the freedom and the commitment of the Gospel.   Does our discipleship consist of one hour a week on Sunday morning or is the celebration of the Sunday Eucharist the beginning of a fuller response to God’s call?  How much of your God-given giftedness are you willing to share with others? For Pope Francis, our discipleship of the Lord Jesus is to seen through the lens of mercy.  We are all the recipients of the merciful of Jesus, and we are to witness to the merciful love of Jesus in the ways we serve one another.  What one word is the lens by which you view your call to discipleship of the Lord Jesus?