13th Sunday in Ordinary Time ©

INTRO: “School’s out for summer”! Everybody loves that!

But, with that will be the arrival of a new classroom grade, advancing to maybe a High School or a College…. New horizons!

Some of us MAY LOOK BACK on the past and wish for it again, but, we know that while we have MEMORIES of the past, such as the last school year … WE CANNOT GO BACK TO OUR OLD LIFE!

Did you understand the first reading? (It is a little “tricky”)

Elisha (El-leesha) becomes the NEXT GREAT PROPHET by Elijah throwing his cloak over him. An exciting gesture; a different kind of gesture. It is what it is!

Elisha is GLAD to be the next great prophet, but, what does he do?

Understandably he wants to go back to kiss his mother and father goodbye, because being a prophet is going to take him travelling from home, but, instead, he goes over to his oxen and slaughters and cooks them for the people. THIS WAS TO SHOW HIM immediately getting rid of any attachment he had to his old life so as to be free to embrace his NEW LIFE!!!

God has called him to move forward into a new and exciting life, so he gets rid of anything that would prevent him of embracing his calling.

So, we have to ask ourselves …… are there things in our lives that we are holding onto that keep us from looking or moving forward to becoming a better Christian?

The church on this 13th Sunday in Ordinary time doesn’t want you and me holding onto worldly attachments that prevent us from growing in holiness or MOVING FORWARD in our spiritual lives!

I am not sure if you think about it, but, entering a church for Mass, EVERY TIME YOU DO….puts you all in a category like EL-LEESHA; accepting God’s call to MOVE YOU FORWARD, and getting rid of worldly things so as to become better in the week ahead!

Symbolically, the cloak has been thrown over you when you come into church, wanting you to accept living in a new and different way than you did in the past week…. making you live a better week as Christ teaches and perhaps growing more holy by getting rid of those “attachments”, if you will.

Some attachments may be:
Eating
Drinking
Texting
Buying.

So think about what prevents you from developing a holy way of living.

CONCLUSION

Be strong in getting rid of these attachments. Move FORWARD into holiness!