Ordinary Time

Dec 16 2024

The Joy of Evangelizing

From the beginning, spreading the word about the kingdom of God was at the top of Jesus’ priority list. He began his own ministry preaching that the kingdom of God was near, indeed, “at hand.” The good news of God’s presence in the world was the primary work given to his apostles when he sent them out. Later, as Luke records, Jesus sent out seventy-two others. And after he had risen, he commanded all disciples to do this until the end of time.

Jesus’ directives to the seventy-two are still practical: travel in twos, travel light, don’t dawdle, bring peace with you, don’t fuss over accommodations, eat and drink what is offered. Their work was to heal and preach. If there was no interest, move on. One might wonder whether more could have been accomplished if they had not been paired up, but anyone who goes out armed only with the gospel realizes how good it is to have companionship in this important work.

Pope Benedict XVI is calling for all Catholics to participate in a “new evangelization,” one marked by a new ardor, new methods, and new expressions. Consider ardor; it means having zeal, fire, passion. Ardor flows from joy. The Church’s joy as the new Jerusalem comes from knowing we are saved by Christ’s death and resurrection. By our baptism we are part of a new creation. Now is our time to witness to Christ, sharing our faith in Jesus, and knowing he is with us, as the head of his Body, the Church.

Consider/Discuss

Do you accept the calling to be one who witnesses to the gospel and participates in this mission of the Church?
Does your love for Jesus Christ enable you to talk about him and what he means to you, when the opportunity presents itself?

Responding to the Word

Loving Lord Jesus, you continue to ask us to go forth and bring word about the living God you taught us to call Father, the God who loves us as a mother who wishes to comfort us. Fill us with your Spirit, who gives us courage and commitment to the message of the gospel.

Dec 16 2024

Scripture Study for

Isaiah characterizes Jerusalem as a nursing mother, ready to give of herself, feeding her inhabitants from the fullness of her own body. She carries the people, fondles and comforts them. This same maternal metaphor then characterizes God. The metaphor of water is also employed to describe Jerusalem’s life-giving properties. This is a powerful image, since Israel was bounded on several sides by deserts or barren wilderness. On the day Jerusalem is transformed, the people will rejoice with their hearts and their bones. The power of God will shine forth from the restored city, and the people of God will rejoice.

Paul speaks of the death of Jesus and of his own suffering. Jesus died as a convicted felon, and Paul boasts in the sign of this death. The centrality of the cross has turned the world upside down. Joined to the death and resurrection of Jesus, Paul has struck a death blow to the world and its system of values, and that world is now dead to him. Faith in the power of the cross of Jesus, not circumcision, effects membership in the people of God. Thus women and men from every race and ethnic origin are welcome in this community.

Jesus uses two metaphors to represent the mission of his disciples: harvest, and lambs among wolves. Harvest suggests that the seventy-two have only to gather up the fruits of the work of others. Still, the field of ministry is threatening and the missionaries themselves are vulnerable as lambs. They are to trust in God and depend upon the hospitality of those to whom they go. The urgency of the time precludes usual social niceties. Peace! will suffice as an adequate greeting. The people will witness the power of God triumphant over the powers of evil. As important as are the wondrous deeds that they will be able to perform, more wondrous still will be the fact that their names will be inscribed in the heavenly book.

Dec 16 2024

Kingdom Fitness

One quality is essential for being a disciple—commitment. When Elisha asks the prophet’s permission to kiss his parents good-bye, Elijah answers somewhat ambiguously, but Elisha realizes this is the hour of decision. He not only kills and cooks his oxen but burns the plow they came with, wiping out all connection to his past trade. There is no report on how his parents felt about this, but it signals Elisha’s commitment. Eventually, it won him a double portion of Elijah’s spirit.

Jesus outlines the fitness program his disciples must measure up to: an ability to live without the comforts of home, a freedom from any ties to family that might prevent preaching the kingdom of God, and the ability to live such a life with total commitment and without any regret. All this is the work of the Spirit within us, liberating us from what can hold us in place, unable to move and help bring God’s kingdom into the world.

When Paul talks about Christ setting us free for freedom, he too refers to casting off any yoke that could bind or enslave us. Like Jesus, Paul voices a call to live by the Spirit, that breath of God that blows us where it wills. The Spirit can free us from any inclination either to “bite and devour” another, as in calling down fire from heaven on them, or to be consumed by others who wish us harm. By surrendering to the Spirit, we will become fit.

Consider/Discuss

What kind of commitment have you made to be a disciple of the Lord?
How do you understand what it means to be free? Do some kinds of freedom end up enslaving you?

Responding to the Word

Lord, we ask you for the freedom that truly frees us to love as you love, to have the mind that was in Christ Jesus, and to allow us to empty ourselves so you can fill us. Make us fit for the work of the kingdom through the gift of your Spirit.

Dec 16 2024

Scripture Study for

Elijah’s symbolic act of throwing his cloak over Elisha indicates that Elisha has been invested with the power and authority of Elijah. It also suggests that a new generation of prophets is on the horizon. This account describes the conflict that exists between two fundamental responsibilities: fidelity to the call from God and fidelity to one’s primary family obligations. Elisha has been commissioned by God to be a prophet, and it is up to him to decide whether or not he can make the radical break from the past that this commission requires.

Paul states that Christ did not free the Galatians from one form of bondage only to have them submit to another. Habits of mind and heart, addictions of all kinds, retain their hold even after they are renounced. Freedom itself is a frightening thing, but it requires the willing renunciation of whatever might enslave them. Paul also insists that the freedom to which the Galatians have been called is not an invitation to license. Though no longer under the bondage of the law, the Galatians are not free to live lawless lives. They are expected to “love your neighbor as yourself” (cf. Leviticus 19:18).

Some people of Samaria remained in Israel during the Exile and intermarried with neighboring foreigners. Because of this, the returning Jews considered them ritually unclean and kept them from helping with rebuilding the temple. The Samaritans then built their own temple on Mt. Gerizim, and they refused hospitality to Jews who traveled through Samaria on the way to worship in Jerusalem. Jesus encountered three prospective followers along the way. The first one enthusiastically offers commitment; the other two wish to postpone joining Jesus until they have put their immediate affairs in order. Jesus emphasizes the demands that discipleship will exact. His followers must be willing to relinquish all. While followers should be enthusiastic in their dedication, they should also be prepared to pay the price of wholehearted commitment.

Dec 16 2024

The Unexpected Messiah

The apostles were probably not all that different from the other members of their families or their friends. They were not very different from the other Jews of their day. Indeed, given the expectations and hopes we have for our own leaders today, we would not have answered Jesus much differently. They were waiting for the Messiah to come, and once he came, life would be good again.

They expected the Messiah (which means “Anointed One”) to come in power and might; a liberator like Moses, who led God’s people out of slavery; a great king like David, who brought the people of the divided northern and southern kingdoms into one nation. How wonderful would this new era be, ushered in by such a Messiah!

Imagine their surprise when Jesus rebukes Peter for saying that he is “The Christ [Messiah] of God” (9:20). Greater their surprise when Jesus goes on to say that he must suffer greatly, be rejected by their religious leaders, and be killed— but also be raised from death on the third day (9:22). It is fair to wonder if, in their shock, they even heard the part about being raised. The ultimate stunning news, however, would have been that to follow their Messiah, they must be willing to deny themselves, taking up their crosses every day.

A person like this Messiah would not get a lot of votes, even today. But it is through faith in Christ Jesus, Anointed One of God, that we have become children of God. And so we are called, as Paul tells us, to clothe ourselves with Christ (Galatians 3:27), another way of saying “Take up your cross, every day.”

Consider/Discuss

If Jesus asked you “Who do you say that I am?” what would your answer be?
In what ways does daily life call upon you to take up your cross? What form does this command take in the life of the whole Church?

Responding to the Word

Jesus Christ, our Messiah, let us be clothed with your risen glory, as each day we walk with you, carrying the cross that life calls on us to bear. Increase our faith in you; help us to know your gracious loving presence with us always.