Having celebrated the special Solemnities of the Most Holy Trinity and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ these past two weekends, this Sunday we return to the Ordinary Time Sundays for the remainder of our Church’s Liturgical Year, which ends on November 20th with the celebration of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe. “Ordinary Time” gets its name both from the fact that there are no special or particular liturgical celebrations or seasons for the remainder of the year, and because we count these weeks with “ordinal” numbers. Our liturgical color for our vestments is green – a color that dominates our landscape through summer into fall.
Today we find ourselves on the 13th Sunday of Ordinary Time, with our Mass readings taken from Cycle C of the Sunday Lectionary. We resume reading from the Gospel of Luke for our Gospel texts each Sunday, picking up this week towards the end of Chapter 9. According to Luke, Jesus has completed his ministry in Galilee and now “sets his face” towards Jerusalem where he will fulfill his mission on earth through his passion, death, resurrection and ascension. While the physical journey to Jerusalem is only about 76 miles, the next 9 chapters of Luke’s Gospel – a full third of the book – is dedicated to this journey, focusing on many of the responsibilities of discipleship. To be a disciple of Jesus is to walk with him on this journey, dedicated to fulfilling the Father’s will, to take up the cross and follow him to Calvary. This weekend’s Gospel has Jesus inviting additional disciples to follow him, but many have excuses as to why they cannot do so just yet. “Let me bury my father first” one says, and another, “Let me say farewell to my family at home.” Jesus’ seemingly harsh reply, is, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.” In other words, if one desires to be a disciple of Jesus, one must be “all in” and leave behind one’s former ways of living to take up this new way of life dedicated to following Jesus’ teachings and example. As we journey with Jesus through these next 9 chapters of Luke’s gospel on his way to Jerusalem, we will hear about what it takes to be a faithful follower of the Lord. May we renew our commitment to “set our hand to the plow” and never look back!