9/4/2022 - 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

The Challenge of Discipleship

      The Gospel readings these past Sundays have a theme running through them forming a trilogy. Two Sundays ago, the Lord told us to strive to enter the narrow door. Being narrow, it involves not only great effort and focus, but also bending down low. So, in last Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus taught us the absolute necessity of the virtue of humility through the parable of the dinner guest choosing the place of honor without deserving it. But one thing more is needed. The narrow gate will not allow us to bring in any extra baggage. So, this Sunday, the Lord tells us: “Every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions, cannot be my disciple” (Lk 14:33). And to make sure we are admitted, we must show the distinctive sign of membership, namely, the cross: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and follow after me cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:27). Our idea and the significance of the ‘cross’ has undergone a lot of changes. From being a sign of commitment to the mission, as Jesus did, to just being a decorative symbol or even a statement of profanity.

      The cross indicates that being a Christian involves two basic movements: come and go. Jesus invites us: “Come to me! Follow me!” And after following him, he will send us on a mission: “Go and proclaim the Good News!” In both movements, our reply should be “yes” so that God’s plan will be realized. God initiates the call, but we have the last word: “Yes!”

It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple. A student may attend lectures but may not be an admirer of the lecturer. A follower is someone who supports, admires, or believes in a particular person, group or idea whereas a disciple is a person who believes in the idea and principles of a particular person and tries to live the way his/her master did. Jesus wants us to follow Him and be His disciples.

     In the 14th chapter of the gospel of Luke while Jesus is on his final journey to certain death in Jerusalem, he turns to the crowds and speaks to 

them of discipleship. Jesus explains that, when it comes to making a choice for the Kingdom of God, nothing can get in the way. When Jesus describes “hating” one's father and mother, he is not talking about feelings. Rather, he is emphasizing very strongly that choosing to be a disciple means that everything else—family, money, your own life—must come second. In Matthew's version of this story (Matthew 10:37), Jesus refers not to “hating” father or mother, but to loving them more than Jesus.

      In the Middle East, as in many tribal cultures around the world, the main norm of life is: family first! A disciple who deliberately cuts ties with family and social network will lose the ordinary means of making a living. This is the “economic cross” the disciple has chosen to carry. By joining a new, fictive family consisting of other disciples of Jesus, a “family-hating” person presumably has a new source of livelihood. No longer able to make claims to a livelihood based on blood ties and advantageous social network, members of this new fictive family will have to rely on “hospitality,” which in the Middle East is extended exclusively by strangers to strangers (10:3-12). This risk-filled option is quite a cross to carry.

     Therefore, a would-be disciple must seriously calculate the costs. Two brief parables (about construction and waging war) drive this point home. Anyone who weakens and abandons this determination will become the subject of ridicule and shame. A disciple must remain firmly committed. The behavior Jesus proposes is liberating and heroic but costly. Jesus’ attitude toward family values gives his followers much to think about. We, the contemporary believers, are challenged to reflect upon the meaning of our value system and commitment. What are your convictions that you are willing to stand up for even to the point of being rejected, ostracized, imprisoned, or killed?

 Fr Tom Kunnel, C.O.