A Reflection for the 23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C).
Wisdom 9:13-18 – Philemon vv. 9-10, 12-17 – Luke 14:25-33.
You’ll probably be familiar with some of the sayings of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates. He famously declared that “an unexamined life is not worth living.” That’s true, isn’t it? One of the things we need to do to stay on track in life is to take some time out and take a hard look at ourselves. We benefit immensely from setting aside some time every day to be quiet, to think through the events of the day and to reflect on how we reacted and coped. When we micro-manage ourselves and our behaviours in this way, through daily reflection and meditation, we open the windows of opportunity to grow to emotional and spiritual maturity. When we have longer periods of time free of the daily grind, we can consider going on retreats and pilgrimages in order to focus on spiritual rejuvenation.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus directed the attention of the great crowds (v.25) following Him towards making a personal examination of the nature of their fellowship with Him and of the authenticity of their discipleship. If any man comes to Me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple (v.26). These words of Christ can come across to us as overly harsh, but setting them in context will enable us to understand their real meaning.
The Jewish convention of the time, adopted by the Pharisees and Sadducees, was first of all to put across the points they wanted to make in black and white, omitting all grey areas. The people expected and understood that, which is why Jesus also expressed some of His teaching in polemical terms. Note also that the polar opposite terms ‘love’ and ‘hate’ were used in Jesus’ native language of Aramaic when referring to personal preference. Now that we appreciate the context, we can make sense of what Jesus was getting at.
When He saw the crowd, Jesus saw people there who would abandon him without a second thought when challenges that threatened their sense of self-preservation reared their ugly heads. He saw people who would either deny Him or melt into the mist in order to save their own skins. He saw fair-weather friends who were ready to follow him until times got tough. He observed how difficult it would be for them to prioritise God and put Him first, preferring Him above everything and everyone. He called them to take a long, hard look at their lives in order to take on board what it would mean to be genuine disciples of His.
Despite the adulation, Our Lord didn’t beat about the bush in telling the great crowd just how difficult it is to be a true disciple of His: none of you can be My disciple unless he gives up all his possessions (v.33). In other words, someone wanting to be a disciple of Jesus – of God Himself – has to prioritise Jesus over everything and everybody. On earth, Jesus sought out disciples who would be true to their calling, no matter what the cost to them personally might be. Now that He is both in heaven and with us even to the end of time (Mt 28:20), He hasn’t changed His mind! For God, genuine discipleship is not about the number of followers, but about the authenticity of their fellowship. He is looking for quality rather than quantity.
May I suggest that during your times of self-examination in coming days, you ask yourself the following questions. How personal would I say my relationship is with Jesus? How deeply rooted is the Christian Faith in my life? Am I only nominally Christian because I was born into the Faith or sacramentally married in the Church? Do I come to Church out of habit, or do I come to worship God in the Liturgies of the Word and the Holy Eucharist? Am I carrying the burden of my cross as faithfully as Jesus requires? How far am I guilty of neglecting to make little daily sacrifices that I, as a follower of His, should make?
The personal cost of being a true disciple of Christ is massive. Sometimes it’s too much for us and we abandon our post and run away, as did Onesimus whom St Paul reconciled with his master Philemon. Onesimus was a runaway slave who became Christian under the guidance of St Paul. Examine your thoughts about that situation. Onesimus was uncomfortable with his master and ran away. What makes you feel uncomfortable about God? What do you find difficult to understand or accept about the Faith? Is your relationship with God like a master-slave relationship? Finding answers to these questions will help you discern where you are on the path of your discipleship and the limits of your confidence in Him.
Finally, we simply don’t know how to follow Christ except through what He Himself has revealed to us. The First reading underlines that the mind of God is so far beyond the capacity of human mind that we can only comprehend Him in what He reveals to us through Wisdom and Holy Spirit. We have been given the wisdom to read between the lines of history and to understand the hand of God at work in the world, the hand which leads us to faith. St Paul called Jesus the power and wisdom of God (1Cor 1:24). We have also been given the Holy Spirit active in the Church to inspire us every day. May I encourage you to pray constantly and continually, asking God to teach you how you can serve Him better; to show you ways in which you yourself can be an authentic ambassador of the Kingdom of God, and to give you the graces of courage, fortitude, and faithfulness to God that you need. Amen. God bless you.