Go and Proclaim the Kingdom of God

October 3, 2007

Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

By Melanie Rigney

“By the streams of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. On the aspens of that land we hung up our harps. Though there our captors asked of us the lyrics of our songs, and our despoilers urged us to be joyous: ‘Sing for us the songs of Zion!’” (Psalms 137:1-3)

“As Jesus and his disciples were proceeding on their journey, someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’ Jesus answered him, ‘Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.’ And to another he said, ‘Follow me.’ But he replied, ‘Lord, let me go first and bury my father.’ But he answered him, ‘Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.’” (Luke 9:57-60)

Piety

Lord, grant me the faith to follow you without question, to put you before myself, my family, my friends, and my memories.

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/100307.shtml

Following God before we get our daily lives in order can be downright scary.

And yet, that is what Christ asks us to do in today’s Gospel, to “go and proclaim the Kingdom of God” rather than bury a parent, rather than bidding one’s family farewell at home. Those who look “to what was left behind” are not fit for the Kingdom, he says.

Jesus doesn’t say, “Follow me when you retire.” He doesn’t say, “Follow me once the kids are in school.” He doesn’t say, “Follow me once you get that credit card debt paid off.” He simply says—and expects—that we will follow him unconditionally.

The concept is somewhat akin to today’s Psalm, in which the Israelites refuse to sing their sacred songs in an alien land. Think of how much easier it would have been to play ball with the Babylonians and Edomites. Consider the words of the psalmist, who talks of refusing to forget—“may my tongue stick to my palate if I do not remember you, If I do not exalt Jerusalem beyond all my delights.”

Action

Be Christlike beyond your comfort zone today. Speak up when a friend gossips. Add on 10 percent to your weekly tithe and trust that that leap of faith will be rewarded. Use your free evening or lunch hour to volunteer at a food pantry or homeless shelter or other facility other than those where you typically help out. Follow him.