June 19, 2016 – Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Lectionary: 96
Reading 1 – Zechariah 12: 10-11; 13:1
Thus says the LORD:
I will pour out on the house of David
and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem
a spirit of grace and petition;
and they shall look on him whom they have pierced,
and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son,
and they shall grieve over him as one grieves over a firstborn.
On that day the mourning in Jerusalem shall be as great
as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
On that day there shall be open to the house of David
and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
a fountain to purify from sin and uncleanness.
Responsorial Psalm – Psalm 63: 2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9
- My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
O God, you are my God whom I seek;
for you my flesh pines and my soul thirsts
like the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. - My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus have I gazed toward you in the sanctuary
to see your power and your glory,
For your kindness is a greater good than life;
my lips shall glorify you. - My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Thus will I bless you while I live;
lifting up my hands, I will call upon your name.
As with the riches of a banquet shall my soul be satisfied,
and with exultant lips my mouth shall praise you. - My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
You are my help,
and in the shadow of your wings I shout for joy.
My soul clings fast to you;
your right hand upholds me. - My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God.
Reading 2 – Galatians 3: 26-29
Brothers and sisters:
Through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus.
For all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither slave nor free person,
there is not male and female;
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
And if you belong to Christ,
then you are Abraham’s descendant,
heirs according to the promise.
Gospel – Luke 9: 18-24
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist;
others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He rebuked them
and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
Listen to the Scriptures: click on the link below:
http://ccc.usccb.org/cccradio/NABPodcasts/16_06_19.mp3
12th Sunday in Ordinary Time – C
Theme: Suffering and the Christian Life. We cannot escape suffering as human beings. For Christians, human suffering has real meaning in the context of their faith. Suffering is transfigured by the promise of the resurrection in which Christians believe. The sacraments of the Christian life, signs of the resurrection, place on believers the task of alleviating human suffering on earth.
Suffering has value in the Christian life. It can be a test of faith, an occasion for the increase of hope, an incentive to love, all of which are virtues and the acts flowing from them are salvific before God, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Introduction: Society is becoming increasingly hedonistic. The pursuit of happiness, pleasure and instant gratification has become a full-time occupation for some people. Pain, suffering, even any inconvenience are to be avoided at all costs or, if somehow present, cosmetized out of direct consciousness. Pain and suffering have no meaning at all for them. Christians themselves are also tempted to assume similar attitudes and ideas about suffering and pain.
Point 1: Suffering has meaning in the Christian life. Suffering is a fact that must be faced in some way. For Christians, suffering has real meaning because of Jesus’ resurrection. By baptism, Christians enter the life-pattern set by Jesus who suffered, died and rose. As believers in Jesus, Christians can expect to have the same experience as Jesus had – suffering leads to glory, pain to joy, and death to new life. The crosses of daily life become meaningful in the context of this new pattern of death to sin and new life through resurrection.
Point 2: Suffering can be a means of growth in the Christian life. At the center of Christian faith is the human experience of dependence on God. When all goes well, we feel comfortable, independent, and self-sufficient. Who needs God in the midst of success? Failure, pain, frustration, disappointment brings us up short and reveal how deeply we rely on God. Such experiences cause us to examine our faith in God, to realize more concretely what our real hope is, to see more clearly what our faith and hope require from us daily – Christians have a mission of love for others, the task of relieving suffering and its various causes to the extent possible.
Point 3: Christian love demands the alleviation of suffering. Suffering is no fun for Christians; they are not secret masochists; they do not encourage the enjoyment of pain; they do not recommend mere passive suffering. Baptism involves Christians in the mission of Jesus who confronted and alleviated human suffering wherever he encountered it. Christians are called to point to glimpses of the resurrection in every day life, to rejoice in hope, to celebrate life by being disciples of the cross and apostles of the resurrection.
Conclusion: No one will ever eliminate suffering entirely in daily life. Christians are reminders of that fact. They are also signs of the hope that lies beyond all suffering. At every turn they should seek to relieve suffering and its causes in daily life, not inflict it. The sign of the cross at the end of the liturgy is used as a blessing – it is a symbol of our role and our task.
QUESTIONS THAT MAY LEAD TO OTHER THOUGHTS / SHARING / DISCUSSIONS
- Are you aware of how often you inflict suffering on others?
- Are your daily sufferings real barriers to your personal growth?
- Are you prone to despair when things go badly?
- Does it practically mean anything to you that Jesus died for your sins and rose from the dead? What does it mean to you?
- How often do you help to relieve the suffering of others? Give an example or two.
- Does suffering cause you only to feel sorry for yourself?
THE GREAT DISCOVERY (Luke 9: 18-22)
This is one of the most crucial moments in the life of Jesus. He asked this question when he was already turning his face to go to Jerusalem. He well knew what awaited him there, and the answer to his question was of supreme importance. He knew that he was going to a Cross to die; he wanted to know before he went, if there was anyone who had really discovered who he was. The right answer would make all the difference. If instead there was a dull incomprehension, all his work would have gone for nothing. If there was any realization, however, incomplete, it meant that he had lit such a torch in the hearts of men as time would never put out. How Jesus’ heart must have lifted when Peter’s sudden discovery rushed to his lips – YOU ARE THE ANOINTED ONE OF GOD!” When Jesus heard that, he knew he had not failed.
Not only had the Twelve to discover the fact; they had also to discover what the fact meant. they had grown up against a background of thought which expected from God a conquering king who would lead them to world dominion. Peter’s eyes would blaze with excitement when he said this. But Jesus had to teach them that God’s anointed one had come to die upon a Cross. He had to take their ideas of God and of God’s purposes and turn them upside down; and from this time that is what he set himself to do. They had discovered who he was; now they had to learn what that discovery meant.
There are two great general truths in this passage.
- Jesus began by asking what men were saying about him; and then, suddenly, he flashes the question at the Twelve “Who do you say that I am?” It is never enough to know what other people have said about Jesus. A man might be able to pass any examination on what has been said and thought about Jesus; he might have ready every book about Christology written in every language upon earth and still not be a Christian. Jesus must always be our own personal discovery. Our religion can never be a carried tale. To every man Jesus comes asking, not, “Can you tell me what other have said and written about me?” but, “Who do you say that I am?” Paul did not say, “I know what I have believed”, he said, “I Know whom I have believed” (2 Timothy 1: 12). Christianity does not mean reciting a creed; it means knowing a person.
- Jesus said, “I must go to Jerusalem and die.” It is of the greatest interest to look at the times in Luke’s gospel when Jesus said must. “I must be in my Father’s house,” (Lk 2:49). “I must preach the kingdom,” (Lk 4:43). “I must go on my way today and tomorrow,” (Lk 13:33). Over and over again he told his disciples he must go to his Cross (Lk 9: 22′ 17:25; 24:7). Jesus knew he had a destiny to fulfill. God’s will was his will. He had no other object but to do upon earth what God had sent him to do. The Christian, like his Lord, is a man under orders.
Take a look at the CONDITIONS OF SERVICE (Luke 9: 23-27)
Here Jesus lays down the conditions of service for those who would follow him.
- A man must deny himself. What does that mean? A great scholar comes at the meaning in this way. Peter once denied his Lord. That is to say, he said of Jesus, “I do not know the man.” To deny ourselves is to say, “I do not know myself.” It is to ignore the very existence of oneself. It is to treat the self as if it did not exist. Usually we treat ourselves as if our self was far and away the most important thing in the world. If we are to follow Jesus, we must forget that self exists.
- A man must take up his cross. Jesus well knew what crucifixion meant. When he was a lad of about eleven years of age, Judas the Galilaean had led a rebellion against Rome. He had raided the royal armory at Sepphoris, which was only four miles from Nazareth. The Roman vengeance was swift and sudden. Sepphoris was burned to the ground; its inhabitants were sold into slavery; and two thousand of the rebels were crucified on crosses which were set in lines along the roadside that they might be a dreadful warning to others tempted to rebel. To take up our cross means to be prepared to face things like that for loyalty to Jesus; it means to be ready to endure the worst that man can do to us for the sake of being true to him.
- A man must spend his life, not hoard it. The whole gamut of the world’s standards must be changed. The questions are not, “How much can I get?” but, “How must can I give?” “Not,” What is the safe thing to do?” but, “What is the right thing to do?” Not, “What is the minimum permissible in the way of work?” but, “What is the maximum possible?” The Christian must realize that he is given life, not to keep for himself but to spend for others; not to husband its flame but to burn it out for Christ and for men.
- Loyalty to Jesus will have its reward, and disloyalty its punishment. If we are true to him in time, he will be true to us in eternity. If we seek to follow him in this world, in the next he will point to us as one of his people. But if by our lives we disown him, even though with our lips we confess him, the day must come when he cannot do other than disown us.
Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time C – June 19th 2016
For the Church: that we may take up the cross daily, dying to sin and selfishness, and allowing God to fill us with life, let us pray to the Lord.
For the grace of true discipleship: that we may have the courage to reject the short term glamour of self-indulgence and consumerism, and spend our lives in loving service of those who are most in need, let us pray to the Lord.
For transformation of our attitudes: that we may recognize the new life that we have and honor each other’s dignity as Children of God, let us pray to the Lord.
For all who desire to know Christ, for Inquirers, Catechumens, and Candidates: that the Word of God may lead them to deep faith and love of Christ, let us pray to the Lord.
For the gift of understanding: that we may listen carefully to Christ’s question, Who do you say I am, and respond wholeheartedly in professing our faith, let us pray to the Lord.
For all fathers and those who have been like a father to us: that they will convey God’s love and understanding to others and be blest with joy of heart and peace of mind, let us pray to the Lord.
For government leaders: that God will give them insight and courage to resolve the challenges of immigration and the plight of undocumented people, let us pray to the Lord.
For all who experience the cross of discipleship, especially those who are imprisoned for their faith: that God will give them courage and hope as they endure pain and hardship, let us pray to the Lord.
For a spirit of welcome and openness: that all barriers of discrimination be broken and that we may experience unity of spirit around the table of the Lord despite gender, ethnic, or racial differences, let us pray to the Lord.
For all who lay down their lives for the life of others, especially parents and those caring for the sick and elderly: that God will renew them and give them strength and courage, let us pray to the Lord.
For all who are recovering from natural disasters: that God will ease their suffering, give them hope, and inspire leaders with effective insights to confront the challenges that exist, let us pray to the Lord.
For the sick and the homebound: that God’s love may bring healing to them and renew their spirits, let us pray to the Lord.
For all who lack nutrition and clean water: that God will provide good harvests and touch the hearts of many to help supply these basic needs, let us pray to the Lord.