Our Sunday Reflection

SELECT HERE for the Audio recording of the Readings of
Sunday, June 28th, 2020, the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

SELECT HERE for the Readings of Sunday, June 28th, 2020, the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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Join Fr. Anthony as he reflects on his memories from his childhood days through his life's journey from Uganda to Lunenburg...READ HERE

Sunday, June 28th, 2020, the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.
 

“So she said to her husband, “I know that Elisha is a holy man of God.
Since he visits us often, let us arrange a little room on the roof
and furnish it for him with a bed, table, chair, and lamp,
so that when he comes to us he can stay there.” 
2 Kings 4: 9-10

TO LOSE IS TO KEEP, TO FIND IS TO WEEP
 

A few years ago, I had to attend a funeral Mass out of town.  I knew it was going to be ‘packed’.  I went early to get a good parking spot, so as not to get stuck.  Reaching the Church parking lot, I found all the best spots just as I wanted, yet I somehow settled on a secondary spot ( playing humble I guess or …).  A good priest friend of mine came in early too and took the spot I had earlier debated parking in. 
 
After Mass, the frenzy began and I was stuck (bad spot); my good friend came so casually, got into his car and passing by me said “Father Anthony, never settle for second place.”  
 
The real world we live in teaches us that in order to make it, or survive, you cannot settle ever for second place.  It is a tough world out there and who wants to be last, tramped upon or left behind?  Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “There is a drum major instinct” in all of us.  We strive for greatness and first place. 
 
So what is one to make of Jesus' words today in the Gospel?  What do they mean?  “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 10: 39).  These words actually summarize the whole ethos of Jesus' teaching and earthly mission.  And he says even more today: “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” (Matthew 10: 37-38)  What is this?  Why would Jesus want us to love less the most important people in our lives?  What is more worthy or of merit than doing this?  And what is one to make of the 'denying one’s self'?  Who in their right mind does this? 
 
Today we are yet again scandalized by Jesus’ Way.  It is the exact reverse of what we think we know.  It is countercultural to a worldly thinking.  For Jesus, ‘to lose is to keep’, to find is to weep’.  The paradox is this:  self renunciation/personal renunciation is the tool to finding life.  It will require limiting the horizon of one’s ego, forgetting oneself only to discover one’s self.  The more we give of ourselves, more so at a personal cost, the more our lives will bear fruit.  Do you want to understand the Eucharist?  Look at the Cross, the Redeemer of the World, hanging on a tree, so powerless and yet through this self emptying act, gives us the hope of salvation.  This is what we follow.  Those who want to be his disciples must be ready 'to lose', in order 'to keep' .

The rich woman of Shunem discovers that her generous hospitality brings her Elisha’s promise of new life in the birth of a Son.  Yes, she ‘loses’, only ‘to keep’.  Her self-giving earns her the words of God (spoken by Elisha), ‘can we do something for her?'  This is what God says to us whenever we are ready to be selfless for others, to lose, for others.
 
If the Apostles indeed want to follow Jesus, they must learn to renounce self and cultivate Jesus’ spirit and Jesus' way in their lives.  A single-mindedness to sacrifice, even at a personal cost,...all for the eternal gift to come.  They must be ready to lose comfort and pleasantries, to further the mission of God on earth. They will suffer and die for this too.  
 
Who are the ‘little ones’ in the Gospel that we need to give a cup of water?  They are the disenfranchised Christians who are excluded, but they are also:  the unseen, the forgotten, the broken, we are called to go out and find them.  Many times ‘Lose’, give up our own comfort often, listen to their story and plight, sacrifice at a price, have less that they too 'find life'. 
 
What do you think is the biggest impediment that might make us hesitant?  Why is self renouncing hard? 
 
The world we live in today has a lot of tensions building up.  There are calls for civility and calm, community and solidarity.  Might the antidote to intolerance and disintegration of society and racism find its clue in ‘learning to lose’ that 'another' or others may find life.  We must ask more and more the question: "Can I do something for another?", even if it means paying a price.  For ‘To lose’ is ‘to keep’.
 
Have a Blessed week in the Lord!

Fr. Anthony

 

View the below videos for another Reflection on the readings.