Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time C  June 20, 2010

Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1  Psalm: 63  Galatians 3:26-29 Luke 9:18-24 

We run a whole gamut of emotions through the three readings of our liturgy of the Word. There is

• Sorrow and compunction for our sins
• Joy and hope with freedom
• Sober and sombre message of the Cross
• Exhilaration with the challenge from the alleluia acclamation.

1. Scholars tell us that the Book of Zechariah is a merger of two books. It is from the second of these two, (commonly known as Deutero-Zechariah) that our reading is taken today. It deals with a salvation that is to come in the future. Jerusalem and the House of David will be redeemed. Both of these have been guilty of breaking the Law, but the Lord will give them a spirit of sorrow and compunction for their sins.

This reading would be more appropriate for Holy Week. It has similarities with the suffering servant of Isaiah. It has also connection with the Gospels. “They will look on the one that is pierced” reminds us of the crucifixion scene in John’s Gospel.  John 19:37. The one they pierce is the Person of God. This describes the special relationship of Israel with God. God identifies with the people in the same manner in which Jesus says to Paul, “Saul, Saul why do you persecute me?”

In “ordinary time”, we think of our Christian life as a pilgrimage of the Church towards our own death and resurrection. It gives hope to the community that the gospel of Christ crucified will be vindicated both now and on the last day.

2. The salvation that is promised will give Hope to the people of Israel. Paul confirms this hope in the letter to the Galatians. As mentioned in Last Sunday’s reading, Paul is still dealing with the elitist group that claim to have an inside track to God’s salvation. This has caused a division.

 Paul says that a new order has been created in Christ and through Christ , now there will be freedom and unity. There will be no distinction based on Jew or Gentile, male or female, slave or free person.

 However, 2000 years later, we seem to have gone back to the church of division before Christ’s wonderful work. Today we have divisions based on

Race: black and white

Class: rich and poor

Education: university studies and illiterate

Ethnicity: Canadians and immigrants

Snobbery: fluency in English/French and those with an “foreign” accent.

We seem to move from the freedom of the Kingdom back to the slavery of our selfishness and self-centredness. “it is all about me.”

3. However, the salvation and redemption promised to the People of Zechariah’s time is ours today, through the sombre and sober message of the Cross. The scene takes place in the north – very close to the Golan Heights. However, the description in Luke’s narration does not have all the pomp and circumstance that is in the Gospel of Matthew. Ch 16: 16-18

• There is no explosive declaration of Peter "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”. Luke’s narration is more of a remark thrown in as a prelude to the passion prediction.
• There is no acknowledgment or praise of Peter, as in Matthew’s Gospel. "You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you.”
• Jesus does not show an reaction or response to Peter’s declaration. “you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church”

Luke is interested more in giving us the chilling facts. The fate of Jesus is

to be tortured – he will have great suffering,

to be rejected,

to be killed,

to be raised from the dead.

It is in the resurrection, that the sombre challenge of the Cross will find its reward. The Good Shepherd will not crush the bruised reed. He will give us hope, as the alleluia acclamation says, “Hear my voice, says the Lord.”

On Ash Wednesday, a priest was putting ashes on the foreheads of the grade four students. Most of the students were curious, a few were giggling, a few did not want that “dirt” put on their heads. But one little boy got the message. The priest put the ashes on his forehead with the words, “Dust you are, and unto dust you shall return”. The boy’s eyes opened wide and he burst out, “Yes! But I will be coming back!”  As we carry the cross, we might be hurt, we might be rejected, we might even die, but we live in the hope of the little boy, “I’ll be coming back” – in Christ and through Christ. We will keep the flame of faith burning brightly so that when the Lord comes to meet us, we will still be a light to the world.

Appendix:

There will be mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning of Haddad-rimmon . This is a combination of the names of two pagan gods. This traditional mourning signified the lack of fertility and barrenness of the soil. It was a traditional mourning ritual each year. The Muslims have the stoning of the Hadj at Mecca. The Christians have the mourning of their dearly departed on All Souls day. Though each “mourning” has a different background, it is a time of sadness and tears.