16th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Genesis 18:1-10a
Psalm: 15
2nd Reading: Colossians 1:24-28
Gospel: Luke 10:38-42
I believe our readings today give us a good description of the makeup of a disciple. We are called to be a disciple and all disciples of Jesus share in common certain attitudes. Some of these attitudes are brought out in today’s scriptures.
All true disciples of Jesus manifest joy when they serve others. Service with a smile, you could say. Being at the service of even our lowliest brothers and sisters for disciples of Jesus is always done with real joy. One of things that shows those whom we are serving that we do it with great joy is when we do things for them that we know they need without asking them if they want it. This is what Abraham and Sarah do so well in today’s first reading. He doesn’t ask the three men what they want he simply goes through all the things that should be done to take care of travelers; listen to Abraham’s words: “Let some water be brought, that you may bathe your feet … Let me bring you a little food.” And so he hastens to Sarah and has her get the food ready and they both together respond to these three men with care. What is the result? Well in their case Sarah is promised the son that she has wanted for so long. From another perspective the story of salvation history is advanced one more stage because God remains faithful to the promise that Abraham will have a great nation under him. Service with a smile, that is, with real joy is the mark of a true disciple of Jesus and that service, doesn’t just simply help the immediate person, but as it did in this case for Abraham, it advances the completion of God’s word.
A disciple of Jesus listens with an open heart to the word of God. The heart of one of Jesus’ disciples takes time to soak up the Word of God both in the Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. As disciples we should listen closely when Jesus speaks to us. There’s this movie called Avatar that many praise for its great job of featuring religion. The good guys in the movie are the Navi and they are able to sort of plug into the world with these braids they have on their heads through these little spiritual ports that all the plants have. That’s great … religion is featured … but it’s a type of religion that Hollywood has always found acceptable. A non-threatening, just be yourself, don’t bother others, you’re okay, I’m okay kind of religion. This is not the God of Christianity. The difference is that God speaks to us. He breaks through our lives and enters our souls and from there speaks to us. His word then demands a response from us. We don’t just get to have the nice mushy feelings, we are asked to respond with holiness of life and proclaiming this word to others as a necessary part of their salvation. So take time to pray with the scriptures everyday, listen attentively to the prayers at Mass, receive the Word of God in the Eucharist consciously, receive the Word of God through the sacrament of confession and tap into all the other great ways that his word is given to us through the Church. A true disciple of Jesus must listen with an open heart to the Word of God.
Finally, as disciples of Jesus we must be able to suffer well. Suffering happens to everyone but as followers of Christ we can give value to our suffering. In taking up our Cross and freely walking the path to Calvary we suffer well. Every person will have to suffer in their life, it’s part of the human condition, so too will we as disciples of Jesus. Jesus didn’t come down to alleviate our suffering or do away with it, he gave it a new meaning he put it at the source of salvation for ourselves and for others and so as Christians, by his grace, we transform our sufferings to build up the body of Christ, for this we must endure suffering well and rejoice in our sufferings for, as St. Paul says, we are ‘filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body’. We become true stewards of Christ’s salvific suffering as we say with St. Paul: “I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God.” We are stewards of Christ’s suffering. To suffer well most practically means to offer it up for sin, our own sins and the sins of others. We are all priests of the New Covenant, the priesthood of the baptized, and so we make spiritual sacrifices, which makes our suffering, as disciples of Jesus, efficacious.
To integrate all three of these attitudes lets turn to our Gospel scene and take Mary as our prototype. The Gospels says that Mary ‘sat beside the Lord at his feet’. If we can imitate her posture of sitting beside Jesus, gazing up at him our Lord will order three attitudes of discipleship perfectly in us; listening to his word; service with a smile; and suffering. For when we sit beside Him we will gaze on His lips and hear His words from His mouth. When we sit beside Him we will gaze on His hands that worked and served with joy even over the mundane tasks of a carpenter. When we sit beside Him we will gaze on His feet and desire to walk with him resolutely towards suffering and death.
As you approach the altar today to receive the Word of God in the flesh set your feet in step with our Lord and know that your spiritual offering as a priest of the baptized is efficacious in filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ and bringing to completion the mission of the Word of God. This is the gift of being a disciple of Jesus.
