13th Sunday in Ordinary Time~ What are you going to do?
13th Sunday of Ordinary Time/ “What are You Going to Do?”
Every good story has a turning point. A turning point is that part of the story where the narrative changes. The main character or characters make a decision which affects their whole future. In the reading from the First Kings we read about the turning point in the life of Elisha. In the Gospel Luke, we here about the turning point in the life of Christ.
Elisha is called by God through Elijah to be the prophet of God. At first, he hesitates. He makes the request to go back and say goodbye to his family. Now this would seem like a reasonable expectation, yet Elijah seems impatient with the request. Elisha must give himself completely to his ministry. Once he says farewell to his family his former way of life is over. He does great things for God. He must keep moving forward.
The first line of the gospel has that same immediacy. Jesus, it says, resolutely went up to Jerusalem. We must take a moment of reflection to really appreciate what is going on here. Jesus, up to this point in the Gospel narrative, was achieving great things. He was preaching to large crowds. Jesus was curing man sick people. His disciples are very enthusiastic. But then everything changes. As he moves toward Jerusalem, people become more hostile. The Samaritans are the first to reject him as he moves through their territory. As he travels, the animosity only gets worse. His disciples get less enthusiastic. Probably they were wondering what they got themselves it to.
True discipleship does call for a single mindedness. When we listen to the spirits promptings it can take us to places that are not pleasant.
During the past week, I attended a conference for priests. At that conference a talk was given by an extraordinary woman. Her name is Norma Pimentel. Norma Pimentel was born along the border between Mexico and the United States about 60 years ago. Her parents would crisscross the border with their large family as they took various jobs. She was born on the US side of the border. As she put it, she is a citizen by accident. Eventually her family settled in the States. She attended school. She was not an overly religious child. One night, when she was in high school, she called her girl friends to see what they were doing. The girls were going out for pizza. Norma asked to go along, but little did she know that before the girls were going out for pizza, they were going to a charismatic prayer group meeting. Norma reluctantly went along. She sat in the back of the room. She was struck by the singing as well as the sincerity of the group. At a certain point they began to pray over people. The group asked Norma if they could pray over her. She agreed half-heartedly. But as she was prayed for, as she put it, something changed inside of her. She felt a deep desire to know God better.
From that point forward she began to read scripture. She attended the prayer group regularly. Eventually she discerned a religious vocation to the Missionaries of Jesus. She got degrees in theology and counseling. As she began her religious life, she lived in a convent along the border. Occasionally, migrant families would come to the convent. The sisters would make space for the families that would come to them helping them with their physical needs for clothing, food, medical treatment. Sr. Norma found her life’s work in those experiences. As an immigrant herself she could identify with immigrants.
She is now in charge of Catholic Charities in the diocese of Brownsville, Texas. Brownsville is the poorest diocese in the United States. Sister Norma is now in the middle of a storm. The number of people who are coming across the border is tremendous. And there are many sad stories of death, detention of children, racism, hostility. But Sr. Norma carries on. She is aware of the injustice of the situation, but hers is not a voice that is full of anger. Hers is not a voice that is accusatory. She is a very intelligent woman who tries to provide for the day to day needs of the people that arrive at her shelter for migrants. She invites anyone who wants to come to do ministry to do so. If people meet a refugee, she believes, know a name and face, hearts will be changed.
Soon, she will be awarded the prestigious Laetare Medal by the University of Notre Dame for her outstanding witness for peace and justice. Sister Norma will use her notoriety to advocate for the poor people she serves.
She reminds us that, even today, in our troubled church, there are still resolute disciples of Jesus. Her question to all those who listened to her story was simply. “What are you going to do?”