Homily for June 27, 2004
Year C - Cycle II
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
by Fr. John Carney
Topic:
Freedom and Commitment
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First
Reading:
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21
"...Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat, as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen; he was following the twelfth. Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him. Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said, 'Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye, and I will follow you.' Elijan answered, 'Go back! Have I done anything to you?' Elisha left him and, taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them; he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh, and gave it to his people to eat. Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant."
Second Reading:
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
"Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'...I say, then: live by the Spirit and you will certainly not gratify the desires of the flesh..."
Gospel Reading:
Luke 9:51-62
"...And to another he said, 'Follow
me.' But he replied, 'Lord, let me go first and bury my
father.' But he answered him, 'Let the dead bury their
dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.' And
another said, 'I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell
to my family at home.' To him Jesus said, 'No one who sets a hand
to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of
God.'"
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The readings in today’s Mass are very well connected; they all have the same theme - the theme of freedom and liberty and commitment. We heard from St. Paul in part of his letter to the Galatians, which is his great teaching, his great treatise on Christian freedom and commitment. Of course, the first reading talked about commitment in a very radical way. We heard the story of the call of the prophet Elisha. Elijah of course was the great prophet of Israel. When it was his time to leave this earth and be taken to heaven, God told him to pass on his authority to Elisha. So we see him place his cloak or his mantle on Elisha, a symbol that Elisha now has the authority that Elijah had to be God’s principal prophet. Elisha accepts the cloak, the mantle, the mission, but he says, “First let me go home and kiss my father goodbye,” which to us seems a very reasonable request, then he says, “then I will come and follow you.” Elijah then rebukes him and says, “What have I done to you? Why are you turning your back on God’s call?” Elisha understands the rebuke, then slaughters the 12 yoke of oxen and follows Elijah and assumes his mission.
To understand that, there is some symbolism there. First, 12 yoke of oxen isn’t a literal figure; I think it’s a symbolic figure. I don’t think you can plow with 24 oxen in front of you with one little wooden plow. That’s too much oxen power. Twelve for the Jews symbolized completeness. As a matter of fact, in the first reading, I heard something I never heard before. He talked about how he was plowing the fields with 12 yoke of oxen and he was following them. He was following his stuff. He was following his possessions and then minutes later he destroyed his possessions, gave them away, and then went on to follow God. In other words, Elisha‘s response to God’s call was absolutely total. He didn’t just get involved in God’s work; he gave himself as a total commitment. Someone reminded me of the story about the Boys Scout leaders sitting around the campfire. They were cooking bacon and eggs in the morning, and the Boy Scout leader had the boys around him and he looked into the frying pan and said, “There is a great lesson in those bacon and eggs. It is a lesson about involvement and commitment. The chicken was involved; the pig was committed to our breakfast.”
We’re talking about commitment, not involvement. That’s why Jesus is so firm in the Gospel. Again, they seem to be very reasonable requests. Jesus calls his disciples and one says, “Let me bury my father.” Jesus replied, “Let the dead bury the dead.” The other one says, “Let me say goodbye to my family.” Jesus says, “Anyone who turns their back after putting their hands to the plow is not worthy of the kingdom of God.” In other words, what they were both saying was, “I’ll follow you, but let me get everything straight first. Let me take care of all my temporal affairs. Let me get everything in order, and then I’ll follow you.” Jesus doesn’t accept that. He says “Follow me now, and then everything will get in order.” I like the idea of not looking back on the plow. I’m not a farmer, but I know that if you keep looking back when you’re plowing, you’re going to have one messed up field. And if we keep looking back on the commitments we made and what could have, should have, or would have been, then we’re going to have one messed up life. Make the commitment, stick to it, and make it in Christ Jesus. That’s the lesson.
Of course, when we talk about commitment, we talk about our vocations. As a single person, as a married person, as a parent, as a priest or religious, whatever your commitment is, make it a commitment in Christ Jesus and then live it to the fullest. Put it first, put Christ first, and everything else will be given to you. I guess we’d agree that this is an age called the Lack of Commitment. Many people avoid marriage for many, many years. We know that in recent decades, the age of marrying has increased, and that’s not all bad, but it does something when you look at it on a worldwide basis. We also know that there are fewer babies and people are delaying children until everything is right…until everything is in order…until we can afford everything. You have to wonder where is the trust in God’s providence, in God’s care, in God’s love? I read some time back that in Japan for the first time there are more people over 65 than under 15. The Japanese are worrying about that. The same is true, I’m sure, in Europe. I’ve been to France and Spain and Germany over the last several years. Ask someone who has come back from Europe recently and ask them how many babies did you see? Some of those countries have a negative population growth. There are more people dying than there than there are being born. Of course, one of the concerns is economic. Our social security system is going to go belly-up in 2048 and I’m personally very concerned about that. I’m going to be 102 then and I need the money!
There are lots of excuses: Lets get good jobs and financial security first. Let’s see if we’re compatible. We see a lot of people living together without marriage. Three decades ago you didn’t see that. If they were doing it, they at least had the decency to lie about it. There is a Spanish expression “sin vergüenza,” which means “no shame.” They’re in your face with it. A priest friend of mine said not long ago, “You know, there is nothing new under the sun. There is no new sin.” He says, “You know, I’m not as concerned that these people are living in sin,” and they are. That’s clearly sin. Read the Bible. God has always got more mercy than there is sin. “What I’m concerned about is that people’s lack of being able, and having the courage, to make a commitment.” They say, “Well, let’s see if we’re compatible.” I guarantee you the longer you live together, the more you’ll know that you’re not compatible, but what has that got to do with it? We’re talking about commitment here. You’re laughing because you know that it’s true! “I will follow you Lord, but first let me bury my father, let me kiss my father; let me take care of my family.” He says, “No. Follow me today.”
I think that part of the problem is this: We have a misunderstanding of the notion of freedom. As a matter of fact, those two words seem to be opposite, freedom and commitment. The world tells us that if you make a commitment, you lose your freedom. Jesus is telling us and Paul is telling us very clearly that you are not free until you are committed. You are not free in Christ Jesus. We think freedom means footloose and fancy free, or to come and go as we please, or to satisfy whatever craving we have at the moment. St. Paul says, “For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another through love.” Christian freedom is different. Let me give you a quote from a Jesuit priest. When I go on sabbatical, Fr. John Kutrel will be here, and he’s Jesuit. They are very bright, these guys. They go to school forever; that’s why I have trouble understanding some of them. This is from Fr. John Cavanaugh, and I know it’s a sleepy summer day, but listen to this. It makes the point well I think. He writes, “We have only begin to be free when we start the process of self-definition called commitment. And our freedom is only realized when we give ourselves away in love. Our commitments become ultimately our homeland, our nest, and our laird. They are where we reside, where we center our being.”
We only begin to be free when we start the process of self-definition. Who are you? You are who and what you are committed to. Paul understood that. He said, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.” Paul focused in on his commitment to Christ, and Christ began to take over his life. St. John the Baptist, whose feast day we celebrated last week, said, “There must less of me so that there can be more of him.” And of course, there is no greater model of commitment and freedom than Mary, our Patroness here at IHM. “Let it be done to me according to your word.” That’s why we are created; to be committed in love to God and to each other, to live a sacred and holy vocation, whatever you choose.
For those who are single and who will remain single, you have a special responsibility. The extra time you have that you don’t give to family is expected to be given to Christ in commitment. One of the weaknesses and challenges of our parish is we don’t have that area for the thirty- and forty-year-olds who have decided to live as single people. We’re going to work on that in the years to come. Single life is undervalued and underlived. This freedom is glorious, if at times fearful. I know it’s glorious. I know married life and parenthood is glorious, for I’ve seen how you are when you have that baby, especially that first child. I’ve seen that look of fear in your eye and the awesome look of love as well. You’re important. You’re needed. You’re a part of God’s plan, and that’s glorious as well as fearful.
I may have told you in the past about a family in my former parish that had 11 surviving children. Their names were Fermin and Cecelia Herrera. Fermin has died. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in Holy Child Church in Carnuel. The church was packed. At the end of Mass, for the final blessing, I asked the family to come up. I said, “ Why don’t the children and grandchildren and great grandchildren come up.” Well, the whole church moved from there to here. And I stood in front of them and I looked, and I was prepared for this. I had just read an article about the cost of raising a child in a middle-income family to the age of 18. At that time, the cost was $160,140. So I said, “Cecelia and Fermin, you’re looking at an investment here of $1,761,540. That’s what it cost you to raise this family. Do you want the money?” I have to say, they paused and looked at each other. Then they looked at the family and said, “No. We’ll keep the family.”
Not long after that Fermin came to see me, and he was dying. He told me that he would live only a few weeks and that he wanted to have his confession heard to get ready. I heard his confession and I said, “You know Fermin, if you had to do it over again, would you do it any differently?” And he said no. He said, “I’m ready to go now.” What he was saying was that he had lived his commitment to Christ, and that all things were right in his life and it is now finished. You know, you and I will be in that same position one day. Some sooner, some later, none of us knows. The 25-year-old man who was killed yesterday morning didn’t know. We have to be ready by living our commitments.
I spoke with a parishioner, whose name I can’t tell you because I don’t have his permission, although I think he’d give it to me. You may guess who this is. I talked to him last week and I said, “How are you doing? How are you feeling?” He said, “I’m not feeling that well. I had gone to the doctor and he said ‘There’s nothing wrong with you, but you don’t have long to live.’” This man thought, “What does he know? He’s not God.”
I said, “Well, how old are you?”
He said, “I’m 89.”
“Now you can do the math.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Do you think that you’re going to live 21 more years?”
“Yeah, why not?”
“You’d be 110.”
“It could happen.”
“I don’t think so.”
He said, “What do you know, you’re not God.”
It’s gonna happen. I hope on my last day on this earth, and on your last day, that we can look back and say, “I lived my commitments. I was loyal to God and to those I loved.” Then you’ll hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. Welcome into the rest that has been prepared for you from all eternity.”