Homily, 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

13th Sunday of the Year A

Readings: 2 Kings 4:8-11, 14-16a; Romans 6:3-4, 8-11; Matthew 10:37-42

Dear friends, it was great to see many of you at the official groundbreaking ceremony this past Friday! Thank you for bringing us this far! It is because of your generosity, your sacrifice, your courage, and your drive that we have embarked on this exciting venture to build a place of inspiration and prayer, a place of welcome and comfort for all who seek God’s love and grace. I am extremely delighted to announce that we also reached our Capital campaign GOAL. This awesome and thank you. While our planning phase is complete, our execution and sustainability phases have just begun. I humbly request the ongoing support and prayers of everyone as we continue to build the Kingdom of God – a people for all ages, past, present and to come.

Our Scriptures this Sunday remind us of the demands of authentic Christian discipleship. Discipleship is never for the faint-hearted…those who follow God have to choose Him and His values – over and about all others…like Abraham, Joseph, Mary and the Apostles…They staked everything on God’s plan for them, sacrificing houses, emotional attachments, people, lifestyles, etc.…Nothing less than total commitment is needed for a lifelong journey of discipleship…

This is what Jesus asks of His disciples. On the face of it, his demands seem harsh and even unreasonable. “Let the dead bury their dead” … What Jesus demands is undivided loyalty, single-mindedness, and unmitigated dedication and these are required for discipleship. Discipleship must be the frame that gives definition and shape to our life. 

Ever since Pope Francis was elected, he has always challenged us to live out the demands of the gospels. For the Holy Father, discipleship has little to do with security, complacency, and mediocrity. He has challenged us not to dabble in mediocrity, not to prefer security and familiarity, not to cling to the status quo – at the expense of God’s dream for all humanity. He wants us to go to the margins, to stay close to those on the edges of life and be that church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets and immersed in coalface realities…. It is a church that dares to do what Jesus did: to do all it can be for the sake of others…

As true disciples, let us endeavor to persevere in goodness, in love, in friendship with the oppressed, children in detention, the homeless and – in all that is life giving for others. And let us put values of the gospel into practice; driven by loyalty, single-mindedness, and dedication to the cause of the Kingdom of God on Earth and in our midst.

Much is demanded of a disciple but great are the rewards!