A Lectio Divina Approach to the Sunday Liturgy
BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD (Series 5, n. 31)
13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – July 1, 2007
“Follow Me”
BIBLE READINGS
I Kgs 19:16b, 19-21 // Gal 5:1, 13-18 // Lk 9:51-62
N.B. Series 5 of BREAKING THE BREAD OF THE WORD: A LECTIO DIVINA APPROACH TO THE SUNDAY LITURGY includes a prayerful study of the Sunday liturgy of Year C from the perspective of the First Reading. For another set of reflections on the Sunday liturgy of Year C, please go to the PDDM Web Archives: WWW.PDDM.US and open Series 2.
I. BIBLICO-LITURGICAL REFLECTIONS
It was a surprise visit from our dear friend, Lloyd from Fresno. Last June 16, he attended a priestly ordination in a parish close to the Tehachapi Desert, after which he decided to drive over the mountain to bring the “good news” personally to the Sisters in Los Angeles. He proudly showed us the letter from Bishop John Steinbock accepting him as one of the seminarians for the Diocese of Fresno. The joy etched in the amiable face of this 35-year old “gentle giant” was radiant and inspiring. His application process took about two years and when he received the acceptance to be a seminarian, he felt like a lover receiving the beloved’s positive response to a marriage proposal. Lloyd is ready to renounce everything to follow Christ and his priestly vocation. He has started to give away his possessions – furniture, television, etc. and even the bed in his bedroom. Now he sleeps on the floor. In August he will enter the seminary. We pray for Lloyd that his response to the call of Christ to serve in the priestly ministry may be total, grace-filled, and irrevocable. We invoke the Lord God, the author of vocation, for the grace and strength he needs to persevere faithfully in his vocation.
In today’s Old Testament reading (I Kgs 19:16b, 19-21) we hear the vocation story of Elisha and his positive response to the divine call to be a prophet. The call to prophetic ministry came from God who ordered Elijah “You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abel-meholah, as prophet to succeed you” (v. 16b). Elijah carried out the Lord’s command. He came upon Elisha, a prosperous farmer, plowing the field with a team of twelve oxen. The biblical author narrates that Elisha was “following” the twelfth oxen. That day was truly significant for henceforth he would no longer be following “oxen”, but instead, it is the Lord Yahweh whom he would follow. Elijah threw his cloak over the toiling farmer, and the latter understood what the symbolic gesture meant. The mantle symbolized the personality and rights of the owner, and since the hair shirt mantle of the prophets was part of their official dress, casting Elijah’s mantle on Elisha indicated an invitation, an investiture and an initiation to the prophetic ministry.
Elisha’s response was immediate. He abandoned the oxen he was “following” and ran after Elijah, the instrument of God’s call. Elisha requested permission from the master-prophet to kiss his father and mother goodbye and manifested to him his resolve, “I will follow you”. Elijah did not object to the legitimate request for a devout, filial leave-taking. Elisha then showed his unreserved response to God’s plan by slaughtering his twelve oxen. He burned the plow as fuel to cook the oxen and served the boiled meat as food for his people. The biblical author concluded the beautiful story with a statement replete with life-implication: “Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant” (v. 21). Indeed, Elisha renounced and left behind his former way of life, symbolized by the leave-taking from his parents and the destruction of his farm equipment. His acceptance of the prophetic call was complete. In destroying the tools of his trade, he was vulnerable, and in a no “fall back” position. He did not have any security. Elisha is an eloquent model on how to respond to the call of God, who destined us for a special service to his people.
In the light of the vocation response of Elisha, the Gospel reading (Lk 9:52-62) about Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem and the various would-be disciples he met on the road takes on greater meaning. The response required of them is a full response to the person of Jesus Christ, who “resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Lk 9:51). The “days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled” is a reference to his being lifted up on the cross of sacrifice, his being raised to life and his ascension into the glory of heaven. His “journey” to Jerusalem is a symbol of the Lord’s irrevocable decision to be at the service of the divine saving will and expresses his radical resolve to undergo the ultimate “Passover”. The disciples of Jesus are therefore destined to follow him on the road to Jerusalem and are called to participate intimately in his paschal sacrifice and glorification. Christian discipleship is a radical and absolute commitment to the person of Jesus Christ and his paschal destiny. To follow Christ “on the road to Jerusalem” entails a radical dedication to the service of the Kingdom of God.
The liturgical scholar, Adrian Nocent comments: “This passage has evidently been chosen in order to teach us what it means to follow Jesus and what demands the decision to follow him makes upon us. Even the first part of the reading, in which we see Jesus courageously going up to Jerusalem, is part of the lesson, since Jesus is going to Jerusalem for his Passion; we are being told indirectly what following him ultimately entails. The will to follow Jesus requires a blind self-surrender, without any security for the future. The Son of Man, we are told, had no place to lay his head. Following Jesus also means that everything takes second place to the preaching of the kingdom. Jesus is unyielding on this point: Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God (Lk 9:60). Following in Jesus’ steps also means not looking back. Once we have abandoned everything, we must not think of the past but simply move on ahead; we must not try to evaluate what we have done or ask whether some other way might be better.”
The call to follow Jesus and journey with him on the road to Jerusalem is addressed to us today. The “Easter itinerary” is a gift we have received as Christian disciples. Faith is our response to this gift. A faithful response to Christ’s invitation, “Follow me” involves complete surrender, without delay, and total commitment of our entire being to the divine saving will.
II. POINTS FOR THE EXAMINATION OF THE HEART
A. What is the role of Elijah in the vocation story of Elisha? How receptive was Elisha to the divine call to prophetic ministry? What is the meaning of his leave-taking from his parents? What is the significance of the killing of the oxen, the burning of the farm implements, and the meal shared with his people? How does the statement, “Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant” impact you?
B. What is the relationship between Jesus’ determination to go to Jerusalem and his destiny of “being taken up”? Why is his decision to journey to Jerusalem important? Are we willing to participate intimately in the Lord’s journey to Jerusalem and his paschal destiny to be accomplished there?
C. Do we say to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go”? Are we willing to embrace the renunciation that the following of Jesus entails? Do we give absolute priority to our vocation of proclaiming the Kingdom of God? Do we endeavor to be faithful and persevering in our response?
III. PRAYING WITH THE WORD
Leader: Lord Jesus,
after your public ministry in Galilee
and when the time drew near for you to be taken up to heaven,
you resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.
Many would like to follow you on the road.
We too would like to journey with you to Jerusalem
and participate intimately in the paschal destiny of your death and rising.
Help us to recognize and accept the true cost of discipleship.
May we be able to follow you on the road
and experience deeply that we are vulnerable and insecure apart from you.
May we always choose you and give priority to you
for you are our absolute good and true treasure.
May we uphold you above all things.
May we never hear the dreadful reproach,
“No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind
is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Help us to be faithful to you
and persevere on the road to Jerusalem.
Lord Jesus,
with the blessing of God the Father
and the grace of the Holy Spirit,
may we be able to say with loving determination:
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
We love you, we thank you, and we adore you.
You live and reign forever and ever.
Assembly: Amen.
IV. INTERIORIZATION OF THE WORD
The following is the bread of the living Word that will nourish us throughout the week. Please memorize it.
“I will follow you wherever you go.” (Lk 9:57)
V. TOWARDS LIFE TRANSFORMATION
A. ACTION PLAN: Pray that the Christian disciples may realize more and more the implications of their vocation to follow Christ all the way on the road to Jerusalem. Pray for the increase and perseverance of priestly and religious vocations in the Church. Translate the precious gift of Christian vocation you have received into a meaningful service to the community, especially the poor, the sick and the needy in today’s society.
B. ACTION PLAN: To help us delve more deeply into the meaning of our Christian vocation and the challenge to follow Christ all the way to Jerusalem, make an effort to spend an hour in Eucharistic Adoration. Visit the PDDM WEB site (www.pddm.us) for the EUCHARISTIC ADORATION THROUGH THE LITURGICAL YEAR (Vol. 3, n. 31): A Weekly Pastoral Tool.
Prepared by Sr. Mary Margaret Tapang PDDM
PIAE DISCIPULAE DIVINI MAGISTRI
SISTER DISCIPLES OF THE DIVINE MASTER
60 Sunset Ave., Staten Island, NY 10314
Tel. (718) 494-8597 // (718) 761-2323
Website: WWW.PDDM.US