Approached by a man who wants him to act as arbiter between himself and his brother, Jesus points out the futility of a life spent in amassing material possessions. In the parable, the rich man is not censured because of his wealth. Nor is he criticised for not attending to the needs of those less fortunate than he. His foolishness is much deeper; it is the attitude of greed that underlies his actions. Such an attitude determines how he values his wealth and what he will do with it. The man’s death is not a punishment for his greed. It is simply the end of his life of excess. Jesus draws out the moral of his story: It is foolish to devote one’s life to the amassing of goods and to be bereft in what matters to God.
While still on his journey to Jerusalem, Jesus offers his disciple a model of prayer. God is addressed in the same personal, trusting way that a child has, with utter confidence in its parent. In traditional Jewish manner, the prayer begins with the sanctification of God’s holy name and the longing that God’s reign would soon break into this world. The disciple is then taught to pray for a sustenance that only God can provide; that each day we may receive what we truly need for our journey. In this teaching, Jesus reveals that the essence of prayer lies in our relationship with God. Our utter neediness makes an irrefusable claim on God. What hinders prayer is a forgetfulness that God is our creator and that all we are, and all we have is gift. In prayer, we acknowledge who we are and who God is for us, and such habits of prayer are the basis for a constant sense of being in relationship with God.
We know that we cannot lay aside the responsibilities of our lives in order to sit with Mary at the feet of Jesus. However, we cannot allow ourselves to be held captive by these responsibilities, regardless of how legitimate they may be. And so we continue to struggle; to carry the burdens that are ours for the sake of the people that we serve; to serve the people in our care realising that we will probably not be able to accomplish all of our tasks or at least as well as we would like. It is in this way that the reign of God struggles to be born.
The First Reading commands us to love, and gives us the means to do it. The law, or word, is not beyond our reach but is as close to us as our hearts. And the help and compassion of the Lord for the poor and needy can be seen by our service. It is through this that, hearts will revive (Psalm). The Second Reading makes clear that all is possible by Christ and his cross. He holds everything in being from the beginning and, even now, is drawing us together in deeper unity. Finally, the parable of the Good Samaritan (Gospel) gives us a concrete example of what this service, this command to love, this deeper unity without bias or prejudice, looks like. This weeks Readings give us renewed confidence, trust, and hope in the Good Samaritan who comes close to us in our need, that we might go out so that God’s desires for all people might be seen by our loving response.
We are called and sent to bring the deep peace of the kingdom of God into the world. The prophet Isaiah (First Reading) proclaims a joyful time of peace that flows like a river from the healing, comforting love of God, which is compared to the intimate, tender bond between a mother and a baby. The same spirit of contented happiness is reflected in today’s Psalm of jubilation, where the whole earth cries out with joy to the Lord. The members of the Early Church community in Galatia are encouraged to be at peace with one another through Christ, who makes us a new creation in him. Christ is the source of all peace and unity in the world (Second Reading). In the Gospel, Jesus sends seventy-two of his followers ahead of him. He is confident that they will have all they need for their mission through all they have learnt from following his way. He instructs them to bring his peace and healing into the communities that they visit. In a world that cries out more than ever for the peace of Christ, this is our calling today. Jesus stands among us and sends us before him, to declare his peace and to heal and encourage people in the knowledge that the Kingdom of God is very near.
This Sunday’s readings focus on the commitment needed to respond to the Lord’s call, a reminder that true faith comes from the heart. The Gospel tells of the wholehearted commitment required by Jesus of his followers – not coercion, as suggested by James and John. Jesus makes the three who come forward aware of what following him really means: it is not to be imagined as a part-time or ‘easy’ option. Jesus does not want his disciples to hesitate. In the First Reading, Elisha responds quickly to being ‘anointed’ by Elijah. He shows his desire to serve the Lord by leaving his livelihood and home, empty-handedly following Elijah. In the Second Reading, St Paul emphasises the importance of freedom. However, he warns the Galatians, and us too, that this is not an excuse for self-indulgence. The Spirit will guide us so that we love our neighbours as ourselves. Living in freedom encourages us to take total responsibility for our own lives, rather than blame others for any personal difficulties. If, like the Psalmist, we trust and follow the Lord’s path of life, it will lead us to eternal joy. Let’s pray this week for the grace of freedom in being able to accept unconditionally God’s will for us.
In the Eucharist, Christ is present not simply in the consecrated bread and wine, but as the one who forgives, speaks, feeds, gathers together and makes present his offering on the Cross. In this fuller understanding of the Eucharist, Christ is present in the bread and wine because he is active in the Church. In the Eucharist he calls us to prayer and reverence. He also calls us to follow his way in feeding the poor and giving spirit to the excluded and in taking up our own cross.
In the Gospel, Jesus looks to the future when he will no longer be physically present to the disciples. He assures them that their privileged sharing in the intimacy of the relationship between himself and the Father will not cease but continue through the gift of the Spirit. The ‘truth’ which the Spirit communicates is truth in the Johannine sense of the definitive revelation of God given to the world in the person of Jesus. The truth is ultimately the revelation that ‘God is love’ (1 John 4:7, 16).
In John’s Gospel, the Spirit is called ‘The Advocate’ or ‘The Paraclete,’ and the role of the Spirit is to teach and remind the disciples of Jesus’ words. These are functions that happen within a community where people gather to share stories, to ask questions, to try to find meaning in the events of their lives. Jesus promises that when Christians gather for this purpose they will not be alone. Jesus promises that he, and the God he calls ‘Father’, will make their home with us, and the Spirit will be there to guide and enlighten us.
The Feast of the Ascension is a vision of the future and an act of hope. The forces hostile to God and to true humanity have by no means yet been fully overcome. The essential blow has been struck in the Paschal victory of Jesus but his messianic work continues as he breathes his Spirit into the Church that carries on his mission. What the Church must understand – what the Ascension assures her – is that accompanying all her labour and suffering is the victory of her risen Lord, who now stands at the right hand of God interceding on behalf of all. It is the feast that celebrates the hope that his triumph will ultimately be ours as well.