Homily: June 26, 2022, Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time.

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From the first reading, we heard this opening line: The Lord said to Elijah: “You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah, as prophet to succeed you.”

Then: Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.

Finally, the reading ends with this: Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant.

Wow. We see a radical conversion here, fast and effective. Elijah threw a cloak over Elisha, and his life changed in a big way, from being a farmer to being a prophet. And Elijah’s mission was accomplished, as God directed him to.

Do you remember how and when you were converted into the faith?

Here’s something I read from Reader’s Digest. A priest, a minister, and a rabbi were comparing whose method of conversion was best. They decided to challenge each other to convert a bear according to their own ways.

Each of them went about to find a big brown bear and put their conversion powers to the test. After that, they got together to share their results.

The priest told, “When I found the bear, I taught him the Catechism of the Church and sprinkled him with holy water. Next week he will receive his First Communion.”

Then the minister shared his achievement, “I found a bear by the stream, and I preached God’s holy word to him. The bear was so moved that he let me baptize him.”

Then they looked at the rabbi, who was all bandaged up and lying on the hospital bed. The rabbi spoke, “Looking back, I think I should not have started with the circumcision.”

The truth is, we cannot convert ourselves, or anyone else, it is the work of the Holy Spirit. We can plant seeds of love, share faith experiences and teach Christian values, but the Holy Spirit is the one who will convert the heart, mind and soul. But do note, our stubborn and foolish pride may hinder the Holy Spirit from doing His work fully.

Conversion is change, and change takes time. We are familiar with great conversion stories of the saints: St. Francis Xavier, St. Augustine, the first apostles of Christ and many more. Yes, their lives changed radically, not always immediately though, even if they made a quick decision to follow Christ. Not without reluctance and hesitation also, even if they had encountered Jesus personally.

Are we also taking time to be fully converted?

A quote from an unknown source says it clearly, “Conversion is not a one-time event. It is a lifelong quest to become more like the Savior”. And it may take a lifetime for us to become more and more like Jesus.

And we all need to be converted, we need to be freed, from our own ways to God’s way. Conversion is claiming the freedom God wants us to have. In the second reading, St. Paul states, “Brothers and sisters: For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”

Elisha slaughtered his oxen and burnt the yoke as fuel to cook the meat. It was his farewell party. He was determined not to go back to his former life. He was moving on, definitely. He was fully converted and committed to his new life, called by God.

As Henri Nouwen rightly described, “The great conversion called for by Jesus is to move from belonging to the world to belonging to God.”

If we belong to God, we cannot belong to the world. We cannot serve two masters. Our conversion cannot be half-baked, it cannot be half-hearted.

In the gospel, Jesus called many, but they did not follow. One said, “Lord let me go first and bury my father”, another said, “I will follow you but first let me say farewell to my family at home”. Those seemed like valid reasons, or were they merely excuses?

Do we also hear the same in today’s world from those who choose not to believe? Do we, who are believers, also give the same excuses when we hear Jesus calling us to a deeper commitment of faith?

We all have hundreds of reasons to delay, defer or decline God’s call, if we are still holding on to the yoke of slavery. We can never be free to follow Christ fully if we are still enslaved to this world’s yoke of material success, wealth, fame and the so-called ‘good’ life.

We are baptised, but are we truly converted?

What are the things that keep us away from becoming fully committed to Christ?

I agree with Billy Graham, that “In every true conversion, the will of man comes into line with the will of God.”

Are we willing to slaughter the oxen and burn the yoke?


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