June 30, 2013: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time C
Are you a good decision maker? All of us are confronted with various decisions to make on a daily basis. Some are small and of minor consequence, while others are huge and potentially life changing. How do you go about making your decision? Do you ever pray first and ask God for guidance before making a decision? Is that important for you?
Most of us try to make decisions with a hope that we are doing God’s will. Perhaps, we try to make decisions that align with the Ten Commandments. If we are going to make decisions that honor the Ten Commandments, we should know what they are. Jay Leno, the host of Late Night with Jay Leno did a segment called, “Jaywalking,” where he went out to the streets and asked random persons to: “Name one of the Ten Commandments.” What do you think was the most popular response? The most popular response was, “God helps those who help themselves.” Well, as you know, that’s not a commandment and is not even in the Bible. It’s actually from a line in Greek mythology.
Many decisions we make are not about choosing between good from bad, but choosing from two apparent goods. What do you do when you feel God is asking you to do one thing while your heart is compelled to another? That’s what Prophet Elisha had to do in the First Reading. We can tell that Elisha was a very wealthy farmer for he owned 12-oxen plow, something that ordinary folks would not have. For us in Donaldsonville, that would be like owning a top of the line sugar cane harvester that cost a couple of hundred thousand dollars. It is also likely that Elisha took care of his parents.
So it was a dilemma for Elisha when Elijah came to anoint him as a prophet. Should he ‘Honor his father and mother’ by staying or should he heed God’s call to leave everything and become a prophet. Had Elisha applied the rule, “God helps those who help themselves,” he would have settled with his preferences rather than God’s call. He had to choose between caring for his parents or embarking on a journey guided by God. Elisha had to decide between his wealthy lifestyle and giving up his wealth to traverse lands without the benefit of the comforts he was used to having.
We have this dilemma of a divided heart and desire for perfect freedom. We struggle between trust and suspicion, between faith and doubt, between surrender and control. It’s hard to choose because we hate to say no to ourselves. Loss is painful, and because we dislike losing something and because we fear loss we make less-than-wholehearted decisions, hesitant decision, circumscribed decisions, or no decisions at all—anything to avoid that pang of hindsight regret. But letting go of something can mean gaining freedom. St. Paul said it beautifully in our Second Reading: Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery. For you were called for freedom...But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.
St. Ignatius of Loyola suggests a succinct rule: as far as we are concerned, we should not want health more than illness, wealth more than poverty, fame more than disgrace, a long life more than a short one, and similarly for all the rest, but we should desire and choose only what helps us more toward the end for which we are created. What is the end for which we are created? We are created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save our soul. If we were asked to take care of our elderly parents, and if this gives reverence and serve God, we should do it. If we were pronounced with cancer, and if all the suffering that is involved with treatments serves God in someway and saves our soul, we should do it. Rather than being a curse, our apparent loss of wealth, health, reputation can be an instrument to bring us to know and to love Jesus more. Think of the challenges you are facing now. How is the Lord asking you to use this challenge to serve Him? As you face your challenges this week, this prayer from Blessed John Cardinal Newman may assist you.
God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission, I may never know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next.
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons.
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.
He does nothing in vain. He knows what He is about; He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me – still He knows what He is about!
