13th Sunday - A (July 2, 2023)

 

“The little ones”

Matthew 10: 37-42

 

Jesus identifies “the little ones” as his disciples, as members of God’s family, as children of God.

 

It is in the little ones that we encounter God and the reality of God’s kingdom.

 

Then later in the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus will identify “the least ones” as his brothers (25:40).  Jesus teaches us that in serving “the least,” we serve Jesus himself.

 

And with humility, may we embrace being little because that is when we are children of God.  

 

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13th Sunday - C (June 26, 2022)

 

Freedom

Galatians 5: 1,13-18; Luke 9: 51-62

 

“For freedom Christ set us free.”  Paul would then explain to the people of Galatia that as children of God through baptism, they are free from the law of Moses and practices of Judaism. 

 

Paul further exhorts them to “use this freedom [to] serve one another through love.”

 

That is the way Jesus loves. 

 

We learn from today’s Gospel, when it was time for Jesus to be “taken up, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.”  There, he freely offered his life on the cross out of loving obedience to the Father and out of love for us.  

 

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13th Sunday - B (June 27, 2021)

 

Jesus Is “The Face of God’s Mercy”

Mark 5: 21-43

 

Three of the people in this Gospel passage did what they were not supposed to do.

 

Jairus asked Jesus to come and “lay” his hand on his daughter who was “at the point of death.”  As a synagogue official, he for sure knew the law.  Yet he asked Jesus, a man and a rabbi, to touch his daughter, who at 12 was at the age of marriage.  Jairus asked Jesus to break the law.

 

The woman who suffered from hemorrhages also broke the law and caused Jesus to also break the law.  By the standards of the time, her illness had rendered her unclean.  Yet, she made her way through a crowd to touch Jesus, again, a man unrelated to her, and a rabbi.

 

She did that because “she had heard about Jesus.”  So must have Jairus.

 

Jairus and the woman did what they did because they knew that Jesus would be willing to break the law to help them.  And that he did.

 

Not only was he known for his power, he was also known for his mercy. 

 

Thus, in the words of Pope Francis, Jesus is “the face of God’s mercy.”

 

Like Jairus and the woman, may we trust in God’s mercy, incarnate for us in Jesus Christ.  

 

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13th Sunday - A (June 28, 2020)

God’s Ambassadors

Matthew 10: 37-42

“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.”

First, borrowing the words of St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 5:20, “We are ambassadors for Christ.”  Then, I must ask myself:  Who is the God that I represent?  Is this God the God of love, mercy, compassion, and goodness? 

And as St. Paul reminds us in today’s 2^nd reading, there are certain sins in me that must die, perhaps selfishness, hatred, resentment, etc.   Only then can I can live for God as Jesus did.  Then, people who receive me might see more clearly the God who is the God of love, mercy, compassion and goodness.

Second, I have to ask myself who I need to recognize as God’s ambassadors in my life.  There are those who love me and care for me.  But let me not forget what Jesus also says in the same Gospel According to Matthew in Chapter 25.  His ambassadors are those who are hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, ill, in prison, strangers.  They are his ambassadors because he identifies himself in them, “Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.”

13th Sunday - C (June 30, 2019)

Jesus Resolutely Determined to Journey to Jerusalem

Luke 9: 51-62

Jesus had a mission that God the Father had given to him.  By his “being taken up” we are saved.  That is the purpose of Jesus’ mission. 

Out of love, Jesus freely embraced this mission that the Father had given him. 

And he “resolutely determined” to carry it out, knowing what awaited him in Jerusalem.  

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13th Sunday - B (July 1, 2018)

“Daughter”

Mark 5: 21-43

The Gospel tells us that the adult woman “was afflicted with hemorrhages for twelve years.”  This particular illness would have made her unclean by the ritual regulations of the time.  As a result, she became an outcast from the chosen people of God [1] all those long twelve years.

After Jesus has cured her, he calls her, “daughter.”  Interestingly, in all four Gospels, this is the only person Jesus addresses directly as “daughter.” 

Jesus heals her of her physical illness.  Moreover, he restores her place in God’s family.  She is forever a daughter of God.  

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[1] Francis J. Moloney, The Gospel of Mark: a Commentary. Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 2002, p. 107.

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13th Sunday - A (July 2, 2017)

Commentary

Matthew 10: 37-42

Three Identifications of a Disciple

In today’s Gospel passage, Jesus lists three identifications of a disciple

-       one who is sent

-       a prophet

-       a righteous person.

The one who is sent can never be greater than the Sender.

A prophet delivers God’s message, not of one’s own. 

And the message should be that of a life striving for righteousness, becoming more and more the image and reflection of the one who sends us. 

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13th Sunday - C

Commentary
Luke 9: 51 - 62

"First, Let Me"

Jesus is not unreasonable. Nor is he telling people not to honor their parents or their commitments or responsibilities.

In fact, he upholds honoring one's parents as God commands it. When asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?,” he responds, "You know the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother.’” (Luke 18: 18, 20)

In this passage, Luke points out the contrast between the attitude of Jesus and that of the two who cannot follow him.

The passage begins, "When the days for Jesus' being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem." Now is the time appointed by God for him to offer his life for allof all humanity. He knows what awaits him in Jerusalem. More importantly, he knows what God plans for him and all of God's children. So, he resolutely determines to go and carry out that plan. He puts God first.

In contrast, the two people who cannot follow him puts themselves first. One says, "Let me go first..." And the other says similarly, "First, let me..." They put themselves and their plans first, not God or God's plan.

Jesus puts God first and determines to carry out God's plan. It is his response of love.

He, who died for his beloved now tells us, "You, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."

Let us ask God, "Lord, let me put you first. Let me put my brothers and sisters first. In so doing, may I proclaim your Kingdom of love and mercy."

13th Sunday - C (June 26, 2016)

Readings

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13th Sunday - B

Commentary

Mark5: 21-43

The Touch of Healing and Life

Jesus' touch restores he dignity of one woman and life and future for the other.

In the case of the adult woman, for twelve years, for hemorrhage has rendered her ritually (religiously) unclean, by the standards of the time. In addition to healing her, Jesus' touch reunites her to the community of God's people.

In the case of the girl, her short life, full of future promise, has been cut short. Jesus' touch restores her to life and to God's plan for her present and future.

What is keeping me from being the child of God that the loving Father created me to be?

Let us pray that Jesus Christ, who touches us with his words and his sacraments, restores us to that dignity given to us by the Father. May Christ's touch enable us to respond to the gift of the fullness of life to which the Holy Spirit is leading us.

13th Sunday - B (June 28, 2015)

Readings

13th Sunday - C (June 30, 2013)

Commentary
Luke 9: 51-62

Following Jesus

This Gospel passage, with Jesus' demands for those who want to follow him, cannot be understood outside of the context of Jesus' own life and death.

And we find this context in the Gospel passage that we heard and reflected on a week ago.

"If anyone who wishes to follow after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

Jesus himself knows what awaits him in Jerusalem.  Yet, "when the days for his being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem."

He knows, and in his life, he lives what he teaches:  "For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." (Luke 9:24)