HOMILY FOR THE 13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C (6)

HOMILY FOR THE 13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C

THEME: We must learn to forgive, to love and not count the cost, to die to ourselves, and to live for others.

Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA

HOMILY FOR SUNDAY JUNE 26 2022

*READINGS OF THE DAY*
1 Kings 19:16,19-21
Psalm 15:1-2,5,7-11
Galatians 5:1,13-18
Luke 9:51-62

*LITURGICAL COLOUR*
Green

*INTRODUCTION*
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ today we celebrate the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time of Year C. And todays liturgical readings reminds us in a special way that, to follow Christ means to live in a constant state of conversion. We are continually leaving the old life behind and becoming a new creation in Christ.

*FROM THE FIRST READING*
In our first reading, we heard the story of the calling of Elisha, the one whom God had chosen to be the successor of the prophet Elijah, the prophet who had worked and laboured for many years in the land of the northern kingdom of Israel. Elijah had worked hard to call the people who had disobeyed the Lord, fell into the path of sin and darkness, all those who had abandoned and betrayed the Lord, those who have worshipped the pagan idols and gods and persecuted those who remained faithful and all the prophets sent into their midst to remind them.

*FROM OUR SECOND READING*
In our second reading today, St. Paul spoke of Christ our Lord Who has freed us from our bondage to sin, freeing us from the chains that have enslaved us from the beginning when we first fell into sin. Through Christ, His Son, God has brought upon us His salvation and the hope of eternal life, and delivered us from the precipice of death and destruction.

*FROM THE GOSPEL READING*
our Gospel today, we heard of the Lord Jesus speaking to His disciples and followers, telling them to follow Him wholeheartedly. He sent them out in pairs to go to places that He Himself was to visit to prepare the way for Him. There were those who received the disciples well and there were those who refused to listen to them, and when the disciples asked that those who rejected the Lord ought to be punished and destroyed, reminiscing of what happened with the ancient Sodom and Gomorrah, the Lord rebuked the disciples for such suggestion, and moved on to the next village.

*CONCLUSION*
The message that the Lord wants us to receive and understand today is that each one of us can do our best wherever we are and in whatever we are doing. There are indeed some of us who are called like that of the prophet Elisha, to leave everything behind and to follow the Lord wholly and wholeheartedly. That was what our priests and religious had been called to, into their mission of serving the Lord and us, His people, the community of the faithful. But at the same time, we must not forget that the laity also have a massive impact on the works and efforts of the Church.
I wish you a Blessed Sunday!

Fr. Diotacious Chikontwe SMA