Sadly some fervent Christians read the Bible overshadowing the ancient Semitic way of thinking with the current Western mentality and philosophy. This results in a dangerous mixture, which must be rejected by many on the grounds of common sense, but accepted by others making them fanatical and “argument-proof” sectarians.

The Bible, as any book, has to be interpreted in the context of the times, places and environment in which the Bible was written. It’s obvious and easy with modern books, but far more difficult with ancient literature, especially from a different culture. I’ve been reading a book about Japan’s history and culture and I’m astonished how different they are to ours.

Another important factor in interpreting the Bible is correct understanding of the author’s intentions. Many speeches of Jesus contain very strong, even exaggerated  phrases or comparisons. They were used just for one reason: to emphasize the message, to force the audience to think.

Today’s passage is one such example. In the Bible a person was defined by the relationships with other members of the family – or widely – the local community.  Exile was one of the worst punishments in ancient times. For the people of Israel Babylonian exile became a symbol of the worst humiliation. So when Jesus spoke about his followers hating their closest relatives, it must have woken up his audience.

Jesus explains and develops his teaching in the parables about a man planning to build a tower and a king preparing for a battle. Readiness to be rejected and deprived of influence is an important part of following Jesus. It doesn’t mean any kind of active or passive hatred towards the family or any other person. Some of you may have experienced contempt, mocking, impatience and other reactions from your relatives, friends or neighbours more often than we would like to expect.

Today’s gospel is not an appeal to build up hatred in our hearts; it’s not a call to fight against anyone. The gospel is an appeal to consider, if I am ready to follow Christ, even if the price is to be very high. The message is simple and directed inwards: “anyone who doesn’t carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple”.

I have to admit that when I go somewhere where I sit among the congregation I take a pew in the middle of the church, because of different local liturgical customs. Once I stood up when everybody else remained sitting. With my height that was quite embarrassing – I drew everyone’s attention to myself like a lone tree in a desert land. But when I’m familiar with local liturgical customs I prefer to have a seat close to the altar. Just to see and hear better.

Today’s second reading reminds us of what we are about when we take part in liturgy. First part of the reading recalls the experience of the Israelites on Mount Horeb, where they were given God’s law after leaving Egypt: “a blazing fire, total darkness, a storm, trumpeting thunder”. When they saw and heard all those things, they were so frightened that they begged Moses to speak to God on his own. That experience shaped the priesthood of the Old Testament.

The author of the letter to the Hebrews explains that this old way of worshipping God has passed away. The people of the New Testament don’t need any mediator between them and God, because the only one needed is Jesus Christ himself, “who brings a new covenant”. There is no fear in approaching God. But this second reading must not be seen to favour individualism: “with the whole Church in which everyone is a ‘first-born son’ and citizen of heaven”. With the Church and in the Church every Christian has “come to God himself”. To understand it better let me use a simple example.

As you know I’m Polish and that’s not my fault. When I want to visit my family I have to pass over a thousand miles in one direction. There are several ways to cover that distance: on foot, riding a bike, driving a car or flying by plane. Finally each of them can bring me to my destination. But not every one is as convenient or as fast. Because I’m getting older I don’t want to waste the remaining part of my life, so I choose an airplane. The airline provides a chance to reach my destination in the quickest way.

We believe that the Catholic Church provides all means of reaching our eternal destination in the most certain way; that is through the sacraments and the church’s teachings. We all are invited to consciously make use of them. The only person  that can make the decision to do so is you.

A new impulse was necessary to spread the knowledge of God. That was Christianity. Initial enthusiasm and a simple message were something that convinced many people and found the way to their hearts. The new religion widely spread within all the Roman Empire. But gradually Christianity was becoming more and more established; its simple message was becoming hidden in theological and philosophical explanations; its simplicity (“love God and love your neighbour”) was covered over by more and more detailed rules and laws. Missionary eagerness survived with some particular people or religious orders. Christianity sometimes was in contradiction with its fundamental message: crusades in the Middle Ages and religious wars in Europe in XVI and XVII centuries. A common driving force for many Christian leaders was hatred towards other Christian denominations joined with contempt, superiority and certainty that only our followers will be saved.

Today’s gospel calls us to re-discover the simplicity of Christian life and belief. Salvation is not a matter of a formal religious affiliation; it doesn’t depend even on fulfilling some religious rituals. Listen again: “We once ate and drank in your company; you taught in our streets”. This sounds like a short description of mass at which we attend. What is the reply to that claim? “I don’t know where you come from. Away from me, all you wicked men”. In the famous vision of the Last Judgment in St Matthew’s gospel there is no single question about religious affiliation or fulfilling religious rituals. There are just questions concerning active love of others: “I was hungry, thirsty, naked… and you gave me food, drink; you clothed me… what you did to the least of my brothers you did for me…”. Simple. Nothing complicated. We need religion as long as it helps us to be endure and patient in doing good works. If we don’t, we waste our time and needlessly bother God. Jesus alerts us in today’s gospel saying: “Try your best to enter by the narrow gate”. The same message we hear in every mass: “This is my body [...] given up for you; this is my blood [...] shed for you; do this – do the same – in memory of me”.

A week later the man dies and the friends each place an envelope in the coffin. Several months later, the priest confesses that he only put £10,000 in the envelope and sent the rest to a mission in Africa.

The doctor confesses that his envelope had only £8,000 because he donated to a medical charity.

The lawyer is outraged, “I am the only one who kept my promise to our dying friend. I want you both to know that the envelope I placed in the coffin contained my own personal check for the entire £25,000.

A promise seemingly is a fundamental element of our human relationships and interactions. Sometimes a promise is spoken clearly and directly, but more often it is hidden behind other wordings. When we see or hear an advert it suggests we’ll be happier or our life will be more comfortable thanks to a new purchase. Many books have enthusiastic reviews quoted on the back cover, promising the best and the most interesting content ever. Unfortunately quite often a newly bought item or service doesn’t turn out to be exactly what we expected; e. g we bought “the fastest broadband in the market” and then we realised that they probably meant a flea market.

There is a similar, usually subconscious, problem with self advertising. Often people, particularly young women and men, but not always, advertise themselves by making use of make-up, an outfit or by their behaviour, anything to attract someone else’s attention. That requires a lot of effort, and sometimes is quite costly. Then they find “their second half”, get married and eventually are able to stop advertising themselves, because they have got him (or her). OK, I’ve probably upset everybody here, so let’s move on.

Have you ever been disappointed or embittered by a broken promise? I bet you have. Everybody has, many times. Sometimes we express our dissatisfaction openly; sometimes we just let our anger boil up inside. However we do it, we always blame others: the spouse, a neighbour, politicians… Forgive me for sounding personal, but that’s a big mistake. In many situations we should only blame ourselves; or more accurately our expectations. We claim that we approach life realistically, but actually we do it idealistically. We want to see things and people to be better than they really are. And at some point we find out that the person or the item concerned doesn’t fulfil these expectations. But we adults tend to blame anything or anybody except ourselves.

Unfortunately there are people who have developed unrealistic expectations towards God. They think that being a believer makes their lives nice, smooth and easy; they believe that their faith shields them from pain and suffering. Quite quickly they soon notice that life is more or less (usually far more) different than they’d expected. So they blame God. Interestingly, Jesus never promised a nice, smooth and easy life to his followers – rather he foretold more problems than they had before. But his promise for the future was eternal life in heaven.

We have been given a ‘voucher’ for eternal life. But we need neither a doctor nor a lawyer nor a priest to place it in our coffin in an envelope. Do it yourself. Keep it in your heart.

Today the gap between the richest and the average is still quite large; but in the last few decades the general quality of life has improved and people’s lives have became more comfortable. Of course, we are talking mainly about western societies. Seemingly the problem of poverty concerns a relatively small number of people in our country. So, does the gospel lose its significance nowadays? I don’t think so.

Some vulgar interpretations say that the gospel condemns being wealthy. But let’s look carefully at today’s gospel. What was the rich man’s problem? Why did God call him: “Fool”? Because he was lucky to have a rich harvest? No. Because he decided to build new, bigger barns? No. His problem is this: “I will say to myself: take things easy, eat, drink, have a good time”. The problem concerns his attitude, not his wealth.

As usual in the gospel and in general Christian teachings, there’s one crucial moral thing that makes us wise or silly: the intention or reason. You want to be rich, you want to achieve something, you want to win something – that’s fine; that’s neither bad nor good. The reason, the intention why you want to do it is important. And this intention makes your choices bad or good, stupid or clever. The gospel is neither for nor against wealth. Jesus wants us to be clever in using earthly things, which are his gifts to us.

People in today’s society have became much more impatient than our predecessors. This is a side effect of technological development. We don’t have to wait days or even weeks to send and receive letters, because we can use email. I can phone and talk to anybody  instantly thanks to mobile phones. Using the internet I and my mum can see and talk to each other, despite the fact she’s 1500 miles away. These inventions (and many other) are extremely useful, but it means we tend to lose the ability to wait and be patient. We want and demand an immediate effect to everything we do.

This may have a destructive effect on our lives, again as a side effect. The ease of using credit cards – even if we don’t have money – lets us buy things that we really don’t need; but we find this out later. The ease of sending emails or using a mobile phone lets us send or say stupid things that insult or upset someone; but this only comes to light on reflection afterwards. Personally I have a rule for myself: if I have to send an email about something unpleasant, I keep it for at least three days; if I have to talk about something unpleasant, I do it standing face to face, not by phone. Quite often I delete the email and quite often I abandon the idea to talk.

Today’s gospel speaks about prayer. The Apostles ask Jesus to teach them how to pray. He replies giving them something that we know as the Lord’s Prayer. We have to be very careful about it; the power of this prayer doesn’t come from the words. Prayer is not a kind of spell that has power to enchant God and make him obedient to our will. I’ve come across people who were very careful in saying the rosary; they didn’t want to miss any “Hail Mary”; probably they thought that the number of “hailmaries” must be exact or “the prayer” is not valid. I have to admit I say the rosary usually during my walk (but never driving a car) – it helps me to collect my thoughts and concentrate on one thing (quite often a homily for the coming Sunday – maybe I should stop saying the rosary…). Honestly I don’t care if say one “Hail Mary” too many or too few times; it really doesn’t matter. What really matters is that in some way I open my mind for spiritual inspirations.

Maybe besides using these very helpful modern inventions we should find time to pray. Certainly it doesn’t give an immediate effect (sometimes it does, but not very often); but in the longer period of time it will keep us mindful and eventually helps us to live our lives well.

In today’s first reading Abraham generously entertained three visitors despite it being the hottest part of the day; a good time for a siesta, but disastrous for cooking. But the attitude of Abraham was rewarded: a childless old man for almost one hundred years was given the pledge of having a child within one year. That was the answer to  his life-long deepest prayer.

It might appear that today’s gospel says something which is the opposite to this. Martha complains to Jesus that her sister doesn’t help in the kitchen and wastes time sitting about and listening to Jesus. But Jesus doesn’t send Mary to the kitchen; what’s more he praises her for choosing the better part. There are many different ways to be generous. One way might  be financially, but this is not necessarily the most important way. For my mum the better part of her stay in Scotland was the time she spent with me; much more important than the special dinners I made.

Of course, today’s readings are not meant to be a guide for entertaining visitors. They call us to be generous to God. Despite good weather enticing us outside or bad weather keeping us at home, whether summer activities or summer leisure attracts us we can (and I think we should) invite God to visit us: by everyday prayer and Sunday mass. God is standing at the door of your heart and gently knocking. Open the door and invite him inside: your generosity will be rewarded.

In today’s gospel we hear about Jesus sending seventy two disciples as his messengers. They had to go to places where Jesus had wanted to go. We don’t know much about them except that the Apostles were not among them. In those happy days when the Church had no clergy the messengers quite likely were ordinary people, who gave their time for the cause of God’s kingdom. At that stage they weren’t very experienced preachers or healers; Jesus gave them clear – though unusual – instructions and tips. When they headed off they started their apprenticeship. Eventually they came back to Jesus joyfully sharing their experience: they were surprised that “even the devils submit to us when we use you name”.

When Jesus sent the messengers in pairs; it means they visited thirty six locations; as the gospel says: “to all the towns and places he himself was to visit”. But I wonder if Jesus personally visited all those places; that’s possible but quite a hard task to do. I think that the answer is “no” and at the same time “yes”. I doubt that Jesus went personally to all those places; but his messengers brought him there: they healed people in Jesus’ name; they drove out evil spirits in Jesus’ name; they spread good news about God’s kingdom in Jesus’ name. Jesus himself extended such a mission after his resurrection; we read about it in Saint Matthew’s gospel: “Go, make disciples of all the nations [...] and know I am with you always [...], to the end of time”.

The mission from today’s gospel literally concerned those seventy two people; but this mission also concerns us. The mission hasn’t been accomplished yet; there are many people looking for consolation, liberation and acceptance; people who need forgiveness and love. When we listen carefully to today’s gospel we can hear Jesus saying: “Cure those [...] who are sick and say: ‘The kingdom of God is very near to you’”. Our mission is helping people by bringing relief and words of comfort.

Some of us may think: “I can’t help, I don’t know how to”. Maybe you’re right; but if you don’t start now you’ll never know. Forget yourself: Jesus is at work.

It looks like the passage is in two parts; the first one speaks about the hostile reception of the two Apostles and their readiness to set the village on fire in revenge. These two apostles suggest radical action, but Jesus doesn’t allow them. The second part of the gospel speaks about three other people who want to follow Christ, but each of them has his own “buts”; in opposition to these “buts” Jesus suggests to them to make a radical decision and take radical action. So we recognize two different ways of being radical; and we guess that one of them is unacceptable for the Lord while the other is preferable.

The radicalism of the two Apostles directs other people; this radicalism makes excessive demands, unreasonable conditions, expects heroic actions; to enhance its effect this radicalism threatens severe punishment. We often find this kind of radicalism drives either whole organizations (usually with a mix of religious and political elements) or a single individual. Both are similarly dangerous: bomb attacks are more spectacular, but the suffering of one person affected by a single oppressor is similar. This kind of radicalism must be fully rejected.

Jesus offers another kind of radicalism: the one directed at myself. This is a radicalism to overcome evil in me; a radicalism which makes high demands of me; a radicalism of high aspirations; a radicalism of unconditional love. Today’s second reading speaks about it clearly and profoundly: “You were called [...] to liberty; but be careful, or this liberty will provide an opening for self-indulgence. Serve one another, rather, in works of love”. Jesus calls us to be radical in self-control and in love; to be radical with ourselves and understanding towards others.

The ability of making decisions, connected with intellect, gives us enormous power to shape our lives. This ability – as we believe – makes us human beings. And this ability is something that Jesus appeals to in us. In today’s gospel the Lord puts a question about people’s opinions about himself. This question appeals to the Apostles’ intellect, knowledge. They are sharing easily what they had known. But then Jesus asks another question: “Who do you say I am?”. A reply to this question is much more demanding than the previous one, because this is not just an opinion. This reply describes my attitude towards Jesus. His question concerns the meaning of him in my life, in my personal choices.

There are many possible answers. For some people Jesus is nobody special; just another more or less historical philosopher, who left more or less useful advice. For others Jesus is just a part of the culture and tradition they were brought up in. Again for others Jesus is part of a superstition: they baptise their children and keep other religious rituals “just in case”. And finally there are people who take Jesus and his teachings seriously and try to live their lives according to the gospel.

We here are expected to give our own answers to the Lord’s question. He’d like to be treated seriously. There are some criteria to help us finding the right way: “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me”. Taking Jesus seriously means living our lives responsibly and unselfishly. The ability of making my own choices makes me human; the ability of choosing Jesus as my Saviour makes me Christian. This is my reply.

“Who do you say I am?”. What is your answer?