13th Sunday of Ordinary Time

July 1, 2001

As we celebrate this Fourth of July week, we will have many parades. The routes of these parades will be listed in our newspaper. Many will go to a special spot on the route to see the parade.

We sometimes would like our lives to be like a parade. We would like to plan and control all of the details.

St. Paul tells us that the Holy Spirit calls us to freedom. The Holy Spirit wants to lead us down side streets and by detours. If we choose to go down the road that we have planned we will have slavery.

Elisha in the first reading sold all his possessions, killed his cattle and fed them to his family. Following the Holy Spirit must be our first priority.

The Gospel presents obstacles from doing this. One of them is to concentrate on the past. Jesus says that anyone who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of heaven. If we look to the past for its good and bad points, we will not see what the Holy Spirit wants to offer us now.

May we follow the Spirit and enjoy the freedom of the children of God.