26 June 2022: Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary time C

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21	Ps 16:1-2, 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11	Gal 5:1, 13-18	Lk 9:51-62
RCL: 1 Kgs 19:15-16, 19-21		RCL: Gal 5:1, 13-25

Discipleship: all in, or nothing

During Ordinary time the Lectionary presents stories and teachings from Jesus’ everyday ministry. This week’s readings focus on Jesus’ requirements for discipleship.

First reading (1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21)

The first reading is from the First Book of Kings, which includes stories from the Elijah Cycle about the prophet Elijah and his successor, Elisha. The stories influenced later Jewish messianic ideas and Jesus’ miracle stories. In today’s pericope, the prophet Elijah’s calls his prophetic successor, Elisha. Elijah “throws his cloak” over Elisha as Elisha is plowing. By this action, Elijah passes on his prophetic authority to Elisha. Elisha accepts Elijah’s invitation to discipleship with a condition: that he first say goodbye to his parents. Elijah agrees to his request (“Have I done anything to you?”). Elisha slaughters two oxen (“yoke of oxen”) not as a sacrifice, but to provide a farewell feast for this parents and kinspeople. In burning his wooden plow (“plowing equipment”), Elisha symbolically marks the end of his farming life and the start of his prophetic work. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because Elijah’s call of Elisha echoes Jesus’ call to disciples in today’s gospel.

Second reading (Gal 5:1, 13-18)

The second reading is part of a continuous reading from Paul’s letter to the Galatian ekklesiais (multiple believing communities in the province of Galatia). Jewish Christian agitators have come to Galatia, telling gentile Christians that they must follow all Jewish cultural and religious customs to be part of the Christian community. Paul writes to clarify the “entrance requirements” for gentile Christians. In today’s pericope, Paul exhorts the gentile Galatia ekklesiais to remain “free” from anything (either Jewish customs or polytheistic practices) that would re-impose the “yoke of slavery.” However, freedom does not mean that a believer can do whatever she or he wants (“an opportunity for the flesh”). “Flesh” is the human tendency toward selfishness. Paul urges the Galatians to practice service (“serve one another though love”). In contrast to love, Paul compares the strife and contention in the Galatia ekklesiais to the “biting, eating, and consuming” of wild animals. Paul urges the Galatians to “live in the Spirit.” The Spirit is the Spirit of God; the flesh refers to unredeemed humanity. At baptism, a believer receives God’s Spirit and is incorporated into Christ (“in Christ”). Because a baptized believer is “in Christ,” the believer, guided by the Spirit, is under the law of love, rather than Torah (“the law”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading as part Ordinary time’s semi-continuous reading from Galatians.

Gospel (Lk 9:51-62)

Luke’s gospel is a critique of disciples and discipleship. On his way to Jerusalem (and his death), Jesus interacts with disciples and would-be disciples, teaching about their approaches and commitments to following him.

• Dealing with rejection. Jesus and his disciples receive no hospitality in Samaria because they are traveling to Jerusalem. James and John react to the slight by proposing to “call down fire from heaven” to consume the Samaritans. Jesus rebukes them for overreacting to rejection, showing that the disciples themselves need further instruction in the meaning of discipleship.
• Unrealistic enthusiasm. As Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem, a would-be disciple pledges that he “will follow Jesus anywhere.” Jesus challenges the man’s overenthusiastic promise with the reality of a disciple’s life of service to others.
• Not ready to commit. Jesus invites someone to discipleship. The person puts Jesus off until a more convenient time. Jesus’ reply teaches that everyone and everything that interferes with a disciple’s work (“proclaim the kingdom”) must be considered as dead, including family.
• Just one more thing…. A would-be disciple sets a condition for his discipleship: a final goodbye to his old life. Jesus’ mention of “setting a hand to the plow” recalls Elisha’s conditional request in the first reading. Although Elijah accepted Elisha’s requirement, Jesus requires unconditional discipleship to be “fit for the kingdom.”

Summary and reflection

This week’s readings ask us to think about Jesus’ invitation to discipleship and our response. Elisha commits to Elijah’s call to a prophetic life by burning the tools of his former life. Paul urges the Galatians to live in the Spirit and practice service to others through love. Jesus invites many to follow him, but they are hesitant or unprepared for a life of service; even his selected disciples need more instruction.

Discipleship is neither easy nor part time work. Jesus has challenging requirements for those whom he invites to follow him. How are we responding to Jesus’ invitation? Are we postponing the real work of discipleship until it’s more convenient for us? Do we commit ourselves daily to live in the Spirit and serve others, despite the pull of others’ customs and practices? Are we frustrated and angered when others ignore or reject our status as disciples? Can we admit our discipleship is always imperfect and always in need of instruction?

—Terence Sherlock

19 June 2022: Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ C

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Gn 14:18-20	Ps 110:1, 2, 3, 4	1 Cor 11:23-26	Lk 9:11b-17

The many meanings and actions of Eucharist

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (or Corpus Christi [= “Body of Christ”]), celebrates the Eucharist’s many aspects: a meal, a memorial, a sign of unity, and an eschatological banquet. This week’s readings highlight the Eucharist’s Jewish roots and invite us to consider the Eucharist’s many meanings and our necessary responses.

First reading (Gn 14:18-20)

The first reading is from Genesis, the first book of Torah. Genesis tells the stories of the world’s creation, Adam and Eve, Noah’s ark and the flood, the Tower of Babel, and the lives of the patriarchs. In today’s pericope, the patriarch Abram (Abraham) has done battle with kings from distant corners of Mesopotamia, who kidnapped the people of Sodom, including Abram’s nephew Lot. Abram defeats the marauders and restores the captured people. Melchizedek, the “king of Salem” (Jerusalem) brings out “bread and wine” as sign of hospitality. Melchizedek is also a “priest of God Most High” who blesses God and blesses Abram for his role in freeing the captives. Christian interpreters emphasize Melchizedek as a priest and his hospitality of bread and wine as foreshadowing the Eucharist. The Lectionary editors chose this reading for its use of hospitality as an element of the Eucharist.

Second reading (1 Cor 11:23-26)

The second reading is from Paul’s first letter to the Corinth ekklesia. Paul writes to the Corinthians to urge them toward unity and to correct their wrong behaviors. Paul has just criticized the Corinthians for the way the conduct their Eucharists. In today’s pericope, Paul recounts Jesus’ institution of the Eucharist, and the traditions that surround it. His use of “received/handed on” reflect rabbinic technical terms that guarantee the received teaching was faithfully and authoritatively handed on from one generation to the next. The ritual words and actions “took, gave thanks, broke,” which appear in all four Eucharist accounts, echo the Jewish blessing over a shared loaf at a meal’s beginning. Jesus’ command to remember (“Do this in remembrance of me”) stands within the Jewish tradition of remembrance or anamnesis. To remember God’s saving events in the past is to make those events present again, allowing present participants to experience and share in the saving effects of the remembered events. Paul tells the Corinthians that repeating the ritual (“as often as you eat and drink”) repeats Jesus’ proclamation of the good news. In biblical tradition reminiscence and proclamation are related: in remembering, one proclaims; in proclaiming, one remembers. Proclamation happens not only through the spoken word, but also by symbolic gesture. “Until the Lord comes” reminds the Corinthians that the bread and cup point forward to the eschatological banquet in God’s kingdom. The Lectionary editors chose this reading because it is the earliest written account of the institution of the Lord’s Supper in Christian scripture.

Gospel (Lk 9:11b-17)

Luke’s gospel is the story of Jesus’ multiplication of the loaves and fishes. Because Luke repeats the same ritual actions (take, bless, break, give) here and in the Last Supper’s institutional narrative (Lk 22:19), he intends that this miraculous feeding to prefigure the Eucharist. Within the larger context of Lk 9, the meal takes on additional meanings, including:

• A teaching about hospitality. Jesus comment to the Twelve “You give [the crowd] something to eat” looks back to his mission instructions to them: “Take nothing for the journey” (Lk 9:1-6). During their mission work, the Twelve were to depend on other’s hospitality; now Jesus tells them to return hospitality to the crowd stranded in the wilderness. The Twelve think in limited, human terms: “Five loaves and two fish are all we have, unless we buy food for all.” Jesus acts in superabundant, divine terms: “taking the five loaves and the two fish, [Jesus] gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.” As well as preaching and healing, Jesus provides food for the people. In this story, Jesus teaches the Twelve that they also must teach, heal, and feed those he entrusts to them.
• An eschatological meal. Luke includes several words that show this miraculous feeding is an eschatological meal, a sign of the kingdom’s arrival. First, Luke sets Jesus’ miracle in a “deserted place” or wilderness, echoing God feeding the Israelites manna in the wilderness (Ex 16). Next, Luke highlights the presence of fish in the meal; in Jewish extrabiblical writings, bread, and especially fish, are elements of the messianic meal in God’s kingdom. Finally, Luke notes the miracle produces an abundance (“twelve baskets”), another sign of God’s kingdom (Is 25:6-10).

Summary and reflection

The Body and Blood of Christ readings ask us to see the Eucharist as more than a Last Supper recreation. Through bread and wine, Melchizedek offers Abram hospitality. Paul’s teaching on the Eucharist points back to its roots in Jewish anamnesis, to its continuing proclamation of the gospel, and to our eschatological feast with Jesus. Luke’s gospel introduces themes of hospitality, service, and the already present kingdom of God.

The Eucharistic sacrament invites us to intimate physical union with Jesus by consuming his body and blood, but it also challenges us to look beyond ourselves to understand Eucharistic implications and to act. Does the Eucharist impel us to offer hospitality to those in need? Does the Eucharist drive us to preach the gospel in word and action in our daily lives? Does the Eucharist fill us so abundantly that we serve everyone, making God’s kingdom present to the world?

—Terence Sherlock

12 June 2022: Solemnity of the Trinity C

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Prv 8:22-31	Ps 8:4-5, 6-7, 8-9	Rom 5:1-5	Jn 16:12-15
RCL: Prv 8:1-4, 22-31

Trinity Sunday: allowing God to be bigger than us

Unlike other liturgical feasts that celebrate events, Trinity Sunday celebrates the mystery that is God’s own inner life: a single being who lives in community. The Trinity is implicit rather than explicit in Hebrew and Christian scriptures. This week’s readings trace how God’s self-revealing words and actions invite us to encounter God in a personal and human way.

First reading (Prv 8:22-31)

The first reading is from Proverbs, an anthology of wisdom sayings, stories, and poems, compiled by an unknown editor after the exiles’ return. Wisdom writing, a widespread Near East literary form, focuses on values, moral behavior, right conduct, and the meaning of life. In today’s pericope, Wisdom, personified as a woman, describes her existence with God before creation (“before the earth”). Wisdom was with God when God created the universe (“When the Lord established the heavens I was there”), serving as God’s “craftsman.” Wisdom delighted God (“[God’s] delight day by day”) and Wisdom too delighted in humanity (“I found delight in the human race”), which can be understood as either the delight that Wisdom conveys to humans, or the delight Wisdom takes in humanity. This cosmic view of Wisdom’s pre-existence provides the basis for John’s Logos poem (“In the beginning was the Word,” Jn 1:1-5). The early ekklesia associated personified Wisdom with the preexisting Christ, and foreshadows Christianity’s later understanding of the Trinity. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to deepen our understanding of Hebrew scriptures’ personified Wisdom woman, and how personified divine Wisdom becomes embodied in Christian thought.

Second reading (Rom 5:1-5)

The second reading is from Paul’s letter to the Rome ekklesia. Paul wrote this letter, his last and longest, in 58 AD to introduce himself and his ideas to Rome’s believing community ahead of his planned visit. Paul reflects systematically on God’s freely offered salvation through Christ as an unearned gift, not achieved by human effort or accomplishment. In today’s pericope, Paul looks forward in hope (“we boast in hope”) to the fullness of salvation (“glory of God”). Recognizing that disciples live in the between-time (already “justified” by Christ’s action but not yet experiencing the fullness of salvation at Christ’s parousia), Paul considers how current “afflictions” (suffering, sickness, death) paradoxically reinforce disciples’ hope (“we boast in our afflictions”). God’s love is the basis for hope. Disciples, who have already seen and experienced God’s love in Christ’s resurrection and in God’s outpouring of the Spirit, know that God is reliable (“hope will not disappoint”). The Lectionary editors chose this reading to deepen our understanding of God’s offer of salvation, accomplished through Christ’s redeeming act, and the Spirit as the continuing outpouring of God’s love.

Gospel (Jn 16:12-15)

In John’s pericope, Jesus explains how the revelation of the Father will continue through the Spirit.

• Guide you into all truth. Although Jesus is about to depart (the hour of his “lifting up” and return to the Father), the disciples’ journey “into all truth” is not complete. The “Spirit of truth” continues Jesus’ work of revealing God (“he will speak what he hears”) in the time between Jesus’ glorification and the end-time. Jesus promises his disciples that the Spirit of truth will guide them as they experience revelation’s steady unfolding during the age of the Spirit-Paraclete.
• The things that are to come. As the revealer and revelation of the Father (“everything the Father has is mine”), Jesus has “much more to tell” the disciples, but they are unable to understand it all at once. The Spirit takes all that is from Jesus (“what is mine”) and declares it to the disciples. The Spirit helps the disciples unpack and expand the meaning of Jesus’ teachings, his transformative death, his continuing presence in the Spirit-filled believing community, and the ongoing revelation of the Father until the end of time.

Summary and reflection

The Trinity Sunday readings ask us to reexamine how we think about and engage with God. Proverbs highlight a different aspect of divine Wisdom, imagining wisdom as an embodied female. Paul focuses on God’s work (or economy) of salvation, emphasizing God’s love experienced in Christ’s glorification and the Spirit’s continuing presence. Jesus describes how the Spirit’s presence continues to reveal the Father in Jesus’ absence.

Human thought and language limit how we think about and talk about God; doctrine and dogma can make God seem far away and small. The idea of God as Trinity challenges us to think big, beyond human ideas and experiences. The Trinity is poetry, not math. “One” speaks to God’s unity and wholeness; “three” suggests God’s community and diversity. Can we imagine God’s love expressed as a mother’s care and nurturing? Can we see God’s love and salvation expressed to every creature in every aspect of the created universe? Are we open to the Spirit’s continuing revelation as growth and change, urging us to keep what is good and discard what no longer serves us?

—Terence Sherlock

5 June 2022: Solemnity of Pentecost: day C

Lectionary note: Pentecost celebrations

The Lectionary presents two sets of readings for Pentecost Sunday: the Vigil/Extended Vigil of Pentecost or Pentecost Sunday. This commentary uses the optional Year C readings for Pentecost Sunday.

Reading 1	Response	Reading 2	Gospel
Acts 2:1-11	Ps 104:1, 24, 29-30, 31, 34	1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13 or Rom 8:8-17	Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 14:15-16; 23b-26
RCL: Acts 2:1-11		RCL: 1 Cor 12:3b-7, 12-13	RCL: Jn 20:19-23 or Jn 14:8-17 (25-27)

Eastertime: the Spirit’s gifts of revelation and relationship

Pentecost, the final day of the Easter season, celebrates the gift of the Spirit to the ekklesia. Throughout Eastertime, Jesus has appeared to his disciples, revealed his continuing presence and care, given a command to love, and taught about the Paraclete. The Pentecost readings ask us think about how we see and experience the Spirit though the believing community.

First reading (Acts 2:1-11)

Throughout the Easter season, the first reading is a semi-continuous reading from the Acts of the Apostles, Luke’s continuing story of how the ekklesia spread from Jerusalem to Rome. In today’s pericope, Luke describes the outpouring of the Spirit on the believing community during the Jewish feast of Pentecost, which commemorates God’s gift of Torah at Sinai. Luke uses images of sound (“rushing wind”) and fire (“as tongues of fire”) to connect the giving of Torah with the giving of the Spirit. Pentecost fulfills Jesus’ repeated promise and prophecy that the disciples would receive “power from on high” (Acts 1:8). Although it’s easy to get lost in the theophany’s external pyrotechnics, the Spirit’s outpouring focuses on the disciples’ personal spiritual transformation, which empowers them to proclaim “the mighty acts of God.” The “Jews from every nation” refers to Jews from the diaspora who had returned to live in Jerusalem. These returned exiles hear the disciples’ speaking in their “own languages,” announcing the good news of salvation. The Lectionary editors chose this final Acts reading to show the risen Lord’s continuing work in and through the ekklesia.

Second reading (Year C alternate: Rom 8:8-17)

The second reading is from Paul’s letter to the Rome ekklesia. Paul wrote this letter, his last and longest, in 58 AD to introduce himself and his ideas to Rome’s believing community ahead of his planned visit. Paul reflects systematically on God’s freely offered salvation through Christ as an unearned gift, not achieved by human effort or accomplishment. In today’s pericope, Paul compares the “two ways” of living: either in the flesh (in slavery to sin, hostility to God, spiritual death) or in the spirit (in the freedom of God’s spirit, right relationship with God, eternal life). Those who have been baptized live “in the spirit” and experience the indwelling of “God’s Spirit.” As a consequence of the Spirit’s indwelling, disciples live in confident hope that they, like Christ, will be raised (“[God] will give life to your mortal bodies.”) Jesus’ transformative death and resurrection has broken death’s hold on humans (“we are not debtors to the flesh”). Humans now can choose a life, either of “the flesh” (“you will die”) or of “the Spirit” (“you will live”). Paul explains that all who are “led by the Spirit” are God’s children and also heirs to God’s promises. In baptism, God invites a believer into a personal relationship (using the metaphor of adoption as God’s son or daughter) and pours out God’s Spirit on the believer. Through the Spirit, a believer confidently addresses God as “Father,” and even more intimately as “abba” (in English, “daddy”), Jesus’ Aramaic word for the Father. (The early Christians treated the abba tradition with great reverence and resisted translating it.) God’s adoption makes a believer also a future inheritor (“heir”) of God’s eschatological blessings and Christ’s resurrection and glory (eternal life), the basis for Christian hope. The Lectionary editors chose this reading to highlight the Spirit’s work in salvation and role in the divine-human relationship.

Gospel (Year C alternate: Jn 14:15-16; 23b-26)

John’s gospel reading is from Jesus’ Last Supper farewell discourse. In today’s pericope, Jesus connects the Paraclete with God’s continuing love and care.

• Remaining-in-relationship. For a disciple who “loves” Jesus and “keeps his commandments” (love one another as I have loved you), Jesus promises that he “and the Father will come and make a dwelling” with that person in an endless presence. The Greek verb μένω/menó means “to remain” or “to abide” or “to remain-in-relationship.” The disciple who loves will know and share oneness with the Father and the Son and experience God’s continuous life-giving love.
• Continuing revelation of God. Jesus also promises that, after his physical departure, the Father will give “another” Paraclete or Advocate. Jesus is God’s first Paraclete; Jesus’ incarnation, life, and transformative death and resurrection has revealed God, and he is the human revelation of God. The second Paraclete is a teacher (“teach you everything”) and a witness to Jesus (“remind you of all that I told you”), who represents Jesus’ continued presence on earth forever (“to be with you always”). The Paraclete continues God’s revelation to the world through the believing community’s witness (loving one another).

Summary and reflection

Jesus’ resurrection has many meanings and many implications. Throughout the Easter season, the readings have invited us to reflect on this cosmos-changing event. Acts dramatically shows the Spirit poured out on and empowering the disciples. Paul describes a disciple choosing life in the Spirit, empowered to call God “abba” without fear. Jesus promises disciples who love a mutual indwelling relationship and an advocate who will continue his presence and mission through the community.

The Spirit is more than flashy fireworks; the Spirit is continuous presence, revelation, and transformation. Do we use the Spirit’s empowerment to witness to the world in words and actions that the world understands? Do we choose to live in the Spirit and reject words and actions that promote death? Do we love one another and invite the Spirit’s indwelling in our lives and our communities?

—Terence Sherlock