Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C, 2022

When God Calls, Drop Everything

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C

St. Bridget Catholic Church, Minneapolis, MN

Sunday, June 26, 2022

Beloved in Christ, today’s Gospel narrative presents us two points that are pretty obvious, and a third one that requires deeper interpretation. The first point is that Jesus’ purpose is not to destroy those who reject him— this includes the Samaritans, who hated the Jews, as a result would not let Jesus pass through their town because he was a Jew on his way to Jerusalem. From the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well, and from his parable of the Good Samaritan, we can decode what Jesus thought of the Samaritans. The second point reemphasizes what I have always taught and preached about— that when God calls, drop everything for nothing could be more important. When God calls us, we must follow unconditionally and not turn back or delay unless he permits it, as he did when he spoke through Elijah to Elisha. 

As for the third point, its meaning is not so clear. The Gospel passage says that as Jesus and his disciples were on their journey, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus’ response was, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” What does that mean? What is the point of that reply? Was Jesus complaining of the lack of hotel accommodations? Not at all! He is also not complaining about the lack of hospitality from the Samaritans. His point is that if we want to follow him, we too should be prepared for inconvenience, discomfort, suffering and rejection. Be ready to lose your natural place of rest and your comfort zones. Those who want to be disciples of the Lord should be able to leave possessions, responsibilities, and cherished relationships in order to be fully committed to the reign of God. Salvation is free, but it has to be received with complete devotion to God’s reign. If our Lord didn’t get nice-treatment, we should not expect to get it, unless we are willing to compromise and don’t give to the world the whole Jesus. If we give the whole Jesus to the world, we will definitely get what the historical Jesus got— hatred, rejection, condemnation, betrayal, lies and injustice. But if we give just parts of Jesus that the world already knows, has and likes, we are likely going to be friends of the world. To that St. James warns that friendship with the world is enmity with God (James 4:4). 

Sisters and brothers, whatever it is that God is asking you to do for him right now, I want you to know that there is always a good reason why God is asking such from you. You may not know what that good reason or reasons are. As a matter of fact, to know it with certitude means you are God. Since we are not God and not as wise as God, we may never know the reason why God is calling and inviting us to do something for him. If you have been told to do or endure something that you completely understand, it wouldn’t be the true God who spoke to you. So what is the practical bottom line? It’s very simple, and perhaps too simple for us. All we need to do are two things: trust and obey. Do the opposite of what Adam and Eve did. The great Saint Catherine of Sienna wrote about her encounter with God. She went on a retreat for the sole purpose of knowing more about God and herself. Throughout the retreat, her prayer was, “God, who are you and who am I?” For three days she prayed this prayer for over a hundred times, but no answer came. As she was getting ready to leave the retreat grounds, she decided to ask one more time: “Who are you and who am I?” Finally an answer came in a revelation: “I am God and you are not!” In that four words answer lies the whole of divine revelation.