Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time [C], July 1, 2007

Readings
1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21
Galatians 5:1, 13-18
Luke 9:51-62

Calendar
July 1, Canada Day
July 4, Independence Day in US

Quotes
Do not let a desire for wealth cause you to become so consumed by your work that you prevent happiness for yourself and your family.  
Thich Nhat Hanh

The economy in fact is only one aspect and one dimension of the whole of human activity. If economic life is absolutized, if the production and consumption of goods become the center of social life and society's only value, not subject to any other value, the reason is to be found not so much in the economic system itself as in the fact that the entire socio-cultural system, by ignoring the ethical and religious dimension, has been weakened, and ends by limiting itself to the production of goods and services alone.  

All of this can be summed up by repeating once more that economic freedom is only one element of human freedom. When it becomes autonomous, when the human person is seen more as a producer or consumer of goods than as a subject who produces and consumes in order to live, then economic freedom loses its necessary relationship to the human person and ends up by alienating and oppressing.
John Paul II, Centesimus Annus, 39-40

The Christian response to the challenges of our times is to be found in the Good News of Jesus. The words that signaled the start of His public ministry must be the watchword for every Christian response to injustice, "He unrolled the scroll and found the passage where it was written" The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore, he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to captives, recovery of favor from the Lord. Rolling up the scroll he gave it back ...and sat down...'Today this Scripture passage is fulfilling in your hearing'."  

God's word proclaimed the oneness of the human family -- from the first words of Genesis, to the "Come, Lord Jesus" of the Book of Revelation. God's word in Genesis announces that all men and women are created in God's image; not just some races and racial types, but all bear the imprint of the Creator and are enlivened by the breath of His one Spirit.
U.S. Catholic Bishops, Brothers and Sisters are Us

Hope prevents us from clinging to what we have and frees us to move away from the safe place and enter unknown and fearful territory.
Henri J. Nouwen

Thoughts for Your Consideration
The scriptures for this Sunday address issues of liberty and freedom -- the freedom to give up everything and follow Jesus on the Way -- the freedom that allows us the ability to "serve one another through love."

Paul reminds the Galatians that the freedom of Christ must not end up being a new sort of slavery -- a freedom to do anything regardless of how it effects others or a freedom from one thing only to be enslaved by something else. (Good Religion is a freeing experience -- personally and also socially and politically.   Jesus is about freedom, not an enslavement to another law or way of thinking.)

In the American context, we might ask ourselves whether the political freedom that we are so proud of has set us free or allowed us in some way to be enslaved by something else. As our economic freedom has played out over time, have we become slaves to the economy, or to the forces of the "free market," or the power of the consumer culture?  Has our freedom of the press, resulted in a culture where we are manipulated and controlled by big corporate powers and their limited perspective?  Has the freedom of the marketplace made us slaves to advertising or to the desire for profit? In brief have we in any way become enslaved by capitalism or consumerism or bigotry or racism or any other ideology?

The vision of Jesus is the vision of a group of liberated people focused on the journey and the goal. Jesus invites people to be free enough to focus all their energy on a vision of life and love and service. We are challenged today to be aware of those things that get in the way of this freedom and to walk in the values and life and joy of Jesus Christ. If we take them seriously, the images of the first reading and the gospel are strong and stark and powerful. As Paul reminds us: "Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery."

Questions for Reflection in your Faith Sharing Group
What have you been asked to give up in your life? 
How has this made you freer for the good news of Jesus?
How has this made you freer to be yourself?

Actions -- Links

UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2007 ". . .examines the discrimination and disempowerment women face throughout their lives -- and outlines what must be done to eliminate gender discrimination and empower women and girls. It looks at the status of women today, discusses how gender equality will move all the Millennium Development Goals forward, and shows how investment in women's rights will ultimately produce a double dividend: advancing the rights of both women and children."  Find it at http://www.unicef.org/sowc07 .

Prayers of Intercession

Response:  "For freedom, Christ has set us free."

For human rights and political freedom for all people, we pray. . .

For responsible freedom of the press in all the nations of the world, we pray. . .

For freedom from consumerism and commercialism in our economic lives, we pray. . .

For freedom from war and violence and other forms of fear and manipulation, we pray. . .

For freedom from racism and all other forms of discrimination, we pray. . .

For religious freedom for all peoples, we pray. . .

Prayers

Prayer for Charity and a Preferential Option for the Poor
By Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB

Poor Ones,
Please take the bread. It is yours.
The house with running water belongs to you.
A plot of land, a dignified job -- all yours.
Forgive me for offering it.
Charity is not substitute for justice but your children are hungry now.

Spirit of Justice, break open our hearts.
Break them wide open
Let anger pour through
 like strong winds cleaning us of complacency,
Let courage pour through
 like spring storms flooding out fear.
Let zeal pour through
 like blazing summer sun, filling us with passion.
Force of Justice, grant me anger at what is,
 courage to do what must be done,
 passion to break down the walls of injustice
  and build a land flowing  with milk and honey
  for God's beloved, God's special love, God's Poor Ones.
Spirit of Justice, break open our hearts.

* * *

The Reverend Norman A. Hjelm, director of faith and order, National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States, New York, NY, offered the following prayer for Independence Day in the House of Representatives on July 7, 1992:

    Lord God of hosts, God of the nations: By your grace and in Your patience You have allowed this our land once again to celebrate its birth, its primal guest for liberty, justice, and equity. And we are grateful.

    And once again by Your grace and in Your patience You have called this House-- responsible men and women who are equally faithful and unfaithful, righteous and unrighteous before You, each other, and the people-- You have called this House to the exercise of its solemn task of the legislation of law and the formation of the Nation.

    Remind these Your servants that liberty, justice, and equity remain ahead of this Nation as tasks yet to be fulfilled and not as goals already reached.

    Maintain before us a clear dedication to the needs of those in our midst who are on the outside because of age, ill health, race, sex, poverty, and urban or rural degradation.

    And consecrate anew this Nation to the exercise of imaginative and sacrificial leadership in a restless and violent world which still struggles for authentic justice, peace, and a safe home in Your creation.

    Accept now, O God, the labors of this day and the frail lives of Your servants in this House. To You be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

Congressional Record-House, 102d Congress, second session, 138/99, Wednesday July 7, 1992, H5981.