First reading Job 9:1-13,14-16
How can man be in the right against God?
Job spoke to his friends:
Indeed, I know it is as you say:
how can man be in the right against God?
If any were so rash as to challenge him for reasons,
one in a thousand would be more than they could answer.
His heart is wise, and his strength is great:
who then can successfully defy him?
He moves the mountains, though they do not know it;
he throws them down when he is angry.
He shakes the earth, and moves it from its place,
making all its pillars tremble.
The sun, at his command, forbears to rise,
and on the stars he sets a seal.
He and no other stretched out the skies,
and trampled the Sea’s tall waves.
The Bear, Orion too, are of his making,
the Pleiades and the Mansions of the South.
His works are great, beyond all reckoning,
his marvels, past all counting.
Were he to pass me, I should not see him,
nor detect his stealthy movement.
Were he to snatch a prize, who could prevent him,
or dare to say, ‘What are you doing?’
How dare I plead my cause, then,
or choose arguments against him?
Suppose I am in the right, what use is my defence?
For he whom I must sue is judge as well.
If he deigned to answer my citation,
could I be sure that he would listen to my voice?
Responsorial Psalm 87(88):10-15
Let my prayer come into your presence, O Lord.
I call to you, Lord, all the day long;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work your wonders for the dead?
Will the shades stand and praise you?
Will your love be told in the grave
or your faithfulness among the dead?
Will your wonders be known in the dark
or your justice in the land of oblivion?
As for me, Lord, I call to you for help:
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face?
Gospel Luke 9:57-62
‘I will follow you wherever you go’
As Jesus and his disciples travelled along they met a man on the road who said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered, ‘Foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.’
Another to whom he said, ‘Follow me’, replied, ‘Let me go and bury my father first.’ But he answered, ‘Leave the dead to bury their dead; your duty is to go and spread the news of the kingdom of God.’
Another said, ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me go and say goodbye to my people at home.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Once the hand is laid on the plough, no one who looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.
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Follow Me
In today’s gospel, three people were willing to follow Jesus. To the first person, Jesus presented the reality that following Him would be demanding. The second person requested to have time to bury his father first. His father was likely still alive, but he wanted to wait until his father passed on, and then he would follow Jesus. To this person, Jesus told him not to wait but to get on with spreading the good news of the Kingdom. The last person wanted to say goodbye to his family. Jesus reminded him of the need to remain focused and not to keep looking back at what he had left behind.
The message for us is that the call of Jesus to follow Him, in whatever path it takes, is never easy. As His disciples, we need to answer His call to follow Him by living His values, getting involved in the urgent work of the Kingdom, making God’s love present to others, etc. Though we might be tempted to procrastinate or remain indifferent, Jesus never stops calling us to follow Him.
Reflective question:
Do I find the call of Jesus to follow Him too challenging?
Do I find the call of Jesus to follow Him too challenging?
Acknowledgment: Reflections are based on “Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer Year C” by Sr Sandra Seow FMVD.
