It is 13th June 2020. We celebrate the memorial of St Anthony of Padua, Priest & Doctor of the Church.
The readings are from 1 Kings 19:19-21; and the Gospel from Matthew 5:33-37.
Are you a follower or a disciple of the Lord?
The Lord calls whoever he wants. The vocation is an invitation to work for the Lord among people. In the first reading, God called Elisha through Elijah as he faced death. The call of wealthy farmer and his willingness to leave all that he cherished all along and to commit for the good of God’s people is the quality is much needed for a genuine vocation.
Without being a disciple, an attendant, an apprenticeship, we cannot know the meaning of the call. “Then he left and followed Elijah as his attendant.” (1 Kgs.19:21). Radically Elisha bid farewell to the parents, killing the oxen and burnt the ploughs to cook the meat to distribute the servants are the visible decisions with discernment.
Unless we dispose and disconnect from our past attachments, comfortable life and connections, we cannot respond fruitfully. God demands total commitment and unreserved acceptance in responding God’s call. God does not want a part time service, lip service and mere praises by words. It is not possible to serve God with the strings of the past attached with the present choices.
The responsorial Psalm praises, “You are my inheritance, O Lord.” (Ps.16:5).
The Gospel invites us to be consistent in our response to the call of God. The conduct and the character are so much relied upon in working for the Lord. “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ Anything more is from the evil one.” (Mt.5:37). Jesus teaches us that God requires truthfulness to the core in serving God. If we have promised the Lord our truthfulness, we need to work on constantly the dust of lies and duplicity settling in our life. However, gifted we can be, our integrity matters. Let us honor what we have promised to the Lord and the community. We need to be extremely careful in withholding something in our objective affirmation. Deceiving destroys the promise and the prompt response needed on time.
We are all called by God. Have we responded truly, totally and truthfully? May the Lord help us to be generous to make the sacrifices needed to respond to God’s call. May you have a good day. God bless you.