Elisha was a very wealthy man. There he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen when Elijah came up to him. Only the upper crust of the upper crust of society would have sophisticated equipment for plowing with that many animals.
Elijah comes up to Elisha and just throws his cloak over him, it’s kind of an amazing scene. He doesn’t even appear to say anything. But Elisha knew what that gesture meant, that he was called to be a prophet in the service of God Almighty.
Immediately Elisha slaughters his animals, burns his equipment, and with the fire, cooks the animals and gives the food to his people and begins to serve the Lord as a prophet. It is the modern equivalent of a Donald Trump, selling his empire, giving the money to the poor, and becoming an itinerant preacher.
If you knew, absolutely knew, that God was calling you to some holy work, would you have the freedom to give it all away, like that? If not, why not?
Up and down the centuries we can see these Elisha moments. Wealthy people selling all of their possessions, giving it to the poor and becoming consecrated servants of the Lord. St. Francis of Assisi was the son of a wealthy merchant. When he heard the Lord’s call to renew the Church, he stripped himself of everything, literally, in the town square he renounced his possessions and inheritance, stripped off his clothes and walked naked out of the town square into the woods. St. Katherine Drexel, a widow and heiress to a huge fortune, at the prompting of God gave it all away to become a religious sister and educator.
“I could never do that” we might think. The bible gives us, on purpose, dramatic examples, the saints give us dramatic examples to shake us out of our complacency, and compel us to at least think differently about our lives. They challenge us to say, well maybe I do need to give God a little more of my time, talent, or treasure; but, perhaps some of you here is being called to consider a life of consecrated service, such as a priest or religious sister.
Saint Paul said, “for freedom, Christ set us free”; “for you were called for freedom. Do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love.” Paul taught the Galatians that sin and selfishness were types of slavery. And that the children of God are called to freedom from sin and selfishness.
The Galatians, you, and I and every Christian, are called to holiness--which consists of being free from everything that keeps us from being generous in serving God.
Speaking of Freedom:
As many of you know, the Church in the United States is engaged in a fortnight of prayer for freedom which began on the Feast Day of Saint Thomas More, June 22 and ends on Independence Day on which we celebrate as a nation our freedom from tyrannical government. Saint Thomas More was chancellor of England during the reign of Henry VIII. Thomas was killed for upholding the truth of the Catholic faith amidst political pressures. Though he was imprisoned and martyred, he was free, because he would not be compelled by the king to violate the faith.
This Fortnight of prayer for freedom is so important, because never in our nation’s history has religious liberty—freedom to practice our faith without government interference—has never been so threatened.
Acts of the government which punish Catholics for following their faith-formed conscience are acts of religious persecution are repugnant to the principals of our founding fathers and of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Catholic bishops united with leaders from other Christian communities throughout the country are united in a concerted effort to defend and promote religious liberty, including lawsuits against our government, for enacting laws which will punish Catholics and Catholic institutions for following the Faith we have inherited from Jesus Christ. But they cannot do it alone, they need our prayers. Hence, the Fortnight for Freedom.
Eighteen years ago, in Baltimore, Blessed Pope John Paul II visited the U.S. He said, “The challenge facing you, dear friends, is to increase people’s awareness of the importance of religious freedom for society; to defend that freedom against those who would take religion out of the public domain and establish secularism as America’s official faith. And it is vitally necessary, for the very survival of the American experience, to transmit to the next generation the precious legacy of religious freedom and the convictions which sustain it.”
In the first century, during the height of the Roman Empire, Saint Paul preached in the Areopagus of Athens. He did not hesitate to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ into the place where ideas were discussed and debated. In that very public square, Paul preached Christ crucified and risen. His words were met with skepticism and even ridicule, yet among those who heard him, some came to believe.
Amid the culture of death that we find all around us, the task of Christians is to show the culture that seeks to marginalize us that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is indispensable for eternal salvation and for the future of civilization.
True liberty is not the about giving in to our base desires, doing whatever you want, to whomever you want, whenever you want. True liberty enables us to resist evil, and to witness to the True, the Good, and the Beautiful.
One very helpful practice, one recommended by the Saints is the daily examination of conscience. Every night before bed, look back on your day, all of your decisions, all of your choices, all of your words and interactions with others, and try to detect any selfishness, and stubbornness, and malice. To repent of those unchristlike attitudes, and to ask God to help me be faithful tomorrow. Then at the beginning of the day, to come once again before God, and give him a blank check, to make the Morning Offering.
Eternal Father, I offer You everything I do this day: my work, my prayers, my charitable efforts; my time with family and friends; my hours of relaxation; my difficulties, problems, distress, which I shall try to bear with patience.
Free me from my selfishness and blindness which so often keeps me from being free to do your Holy Will.
As we continue the celebration of the Eucharist, may we recommit to seeking in Jesus true freedom from all that keeps us from following the Holy Will of the Father, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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