Gospel Lectio Divina for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - July 2, 2023
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.
READ
Jesus said to his apostles: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me,
and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
"Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones to drink because the little one is a disciple—amen, I say to you, he will surely not lose his reward."
MEDITATE
Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
These are some more tough words to accept from Jesus. We ought to put God even before our own children? Even before we listen to our parents, we need to listen to God? Well, it actually makes perfect sense, if we are following the First Commandment to put no false gods before the one true God. We may not ever regard our parents or children as gods, but if we are putting them before the one true God then we are treating them as gods. Whatever we put first in our lives is our god. In fact, whatever we put before God is our god. So, I may even have several gods in my life; not just my children and parents, but also my job, money, and my favorite TV show. Why not go further, and consider how I avoid going to confession because I put my own pride before God? Yes, sometimes I even put myself before God. So, right off the top of my head, I can list at least five gods that I put before God. I may not consider myself to be polytheistic, but my lifestyle proves otherwise.
Jesus’ wisdom here is in the idea that having one priority is the best way to live. Thus, it makes the most sense to make the most important thing in our lives the omnipotent, omniscient, all-loving God, singular. God is one because he is undivided and in need of nothing. When we put him first, we become like him. We become one, whole, holistic, and holy, wanting and needing nothing. God is calling us to imitate him when he tells us to put no one, not even our family, before him. Because, while the family is God’s creation, they are still human and our family members will err. They will put other things before God and his law. You may say that it is not your family’s requests or counsel that you put before God, but their needs. But don’t you think God knows what we need better than we do? Trust in Jesus, and believe that when we put him first all other needs will be met—our own and those of our loved ones.
Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.
In an old allegorical story, someone once told me, there was a man named Tom who asked Jesus for a different cross, complaining that the one Jesus told him to bear was too heavy. So Jesus took him to a room full of other crosses, inviting the man to put down his own and pick up one that he thought would suit him better. It was a huge room full of billions of crosses. For hours, the man walked around looking for a cross that he thought would be easier for him to carry. He grew weary as he picked up one after the other. One he thought might be good was too heavy. Another was too pointy. Another was too awkward to carry. Finally, just before giving up, he spotted a simple cross tucked away in a corner. He picked it up and noticed it sat on his shoulder just right. In fact, there was even a groove that seemed to be right where his shoulder blade met the cross. “This is the cross I would like to bear,” he told Jesus. Our Lord responded to him, “Well that makes sense. The cross you chose is the one you came in with.”
Another allegory comes to mind regarding another man, this one named Joe, who was complaining about the cross he had to bear as well. Similarly, he came to Jesus asking for a smaller cross, saying the one he was told to bear was just too big and heavy. So Jesus gave him a smaller one. Some time went by, and the man walked several miles down the path he was on. He met other travelers along the way, and he noticed their crosses were larger than his. They asked him how he obtained a lighter, smaller cross and he told them, “I just asked Jesus for it.”
As they walked along, they came to a canyon. There was no bridge across it, and the travelers wondered how they would cross it. Then one of them came forth and placed his large cross across the gap. It was just long enough to cross the canyon, so the traveler carefully walked on his cross to get to the other side. But as he went, the cross began to crack. In fact, it cracked so much that he was barely able to get to the other side before it broke and fell into the deep valley below. Seeing no other way across, each traveler did the same as the first and each time the cross they bore broke and fell into the canyon below just as they placed their feet on the other side of the canyon.
Joe watched hopelessly as each of his friends successfully crossed the canyon because he knew his cross was not large enough to bridge the gap. Slowly he inched it over the canyon, trying to use every centimeter he could. But it was no use. He traveled far with his companions along that road, but now he could not continue with them. With his face in his hands, he went down to his knees and wept. Just then, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw it was Jesus, bearing his original larger cross. He was journeying close behind the whole time without them even knowing. “I’m sorry, I did not understand,” Joe told Jesus and asked for the heavier cross. He then traveled onward with the rest of his company and Jesus.
PRAY
Dear Lord,
While I may regret some of the choices I made when I look back at my life, I will never regret enduring the pain of the cross you have given me. If I am humble enough to learn from you, there will be a unique joy to all the suffering. The task you have given me has been made just for me. You have created each one of us for a specific purpose. Please give me the strength to learn and fulfill my purpose. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
LISTEN
We can’t know the specific cross Christ asks us to bear unless we know him well, and we can’t know him well unless we pray regularly. Through prayer, we are shown the Father’s will. We are shown it through the most important part—the listening part. For prayer is a conversation with God, and if all we do is say our prayers we will never experience conversion.
Kilby is a freelance writer from New Jersey and managing editor of Catholic World Report. He received his undergrad degree in humanities and Catholic culture from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. In addition to working with the Knights of the Holy Eucharist (knights.org), he has served as a journalist for Princeton Packet Publications, and the Trenton Monitor, the magazine for the Diocese of Trenton. Some of his published work can also be found in St. Anthony Messenger, Catholic Herald (UK), and Catholic World Report. For the latter he is managing editor. Find more of his writing at ramblingspirit.com.
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