Kaukauna Catholic Parishes

After two months of celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, and the gift of the Holy  Spirit to lead us and guide us, we return to Ordinary Time. But always remember that this refers to a season of the Church year. God’s love for us is anything but ordinary!

The readings this weekend help us focus on what we need to do to fully experience that love. The readings remind us that we need to let go of our worldly attachments – whatever it is that is more important than our relationship with the Father.

In the Second Reading today, St. Paul makes that clear when he says we have to decide what is important to us – worldly attachments, which he calls the desires of the flesh, or a life guided by the Spirit. He reminds us that a life in the Spirit is a life of freedom, and a life focused on worldly attachments is a life of slavery.

Many times, that is exactly the opposite of what we think. We often think that the more “stuff” we have, the more freedom we have to do what we want and to enjoy life. But, as St. Paul reminds us, the opposite is true. All of that “stuff” diverts our time, our treasure and our talent away from God. What St. Paul is saying to us is to let go of those attachments, and we will experience freedom.

In the First Reading, Elisha is called to be the successor to the prophet Elijah, and we see how he gives up everything to answer that call. He takes all his oxen -- all 12 yokes -- and offers them up for food for the people, and he uses the plowing equipment as fuel to cook the oxen. He gives up everything to answer God’s call.

We certainly have many examples of people who have gone to that extent to answer God’s call, and that is certainly praiseworthy, but we do not have to go that extreme. Jesus makes that point in the Gospel today. Jesus is saying, in effect, that we have choices to make. He is encouraging us to make the choice to put God first, above all else. When you think about it, that really makes sense.

God only wants good for us. He looks at us and says we are His precious children. God loves us. We each need to think about what in our lives might be more important than our relationship with God – our career, sports, video games – whatever distractions of the world keep us from putting God first. The readings today encourage us to think about that and to change our focus so we can experience the freedom of living in the Spirit.

Deacon Randy