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Gospel Reflection 20070701

We can all transmit God's goodness to the world, and this is the essence of evangelization!
No human being can say, "I am incapable of communicating God's love and healing to others." It is our daily service to others (and this includes our own families as well as strangers) that best reveals the Good News of God's Kingdom to others. It doesn't matter whether you are (or are going to be) a psychologist or a bartender, a teacher or an airline stewardess; you can convey a living experience of Christ to others when your service to them is warm, joyful, kind and loving.

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Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Choosing Between Two Goods

Gospel
Lk 9:51-62

When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?”
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”

And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”



It is often presumed that freedom is a state of being loose and unattached. Some people go so far as to think they lose their freedom when they commit themselves. Freedom is construed as giving in to any immediate desire and impulse. And yet such a notion of freedom—"giving free rein to the flesh," Paul calls it—is slavery. We only begin to be free when we start the process of self-definition called commitment. And our freedom is only realized when we give ourselves away in love.

In the Gospel Jesus speaks about a vocation, a call. A man points out that he feels called to commit to follow Jesus. Surely a fine idea! But Jesus does not want this man to have any false ideas: such a commitment of following Jesus is not easy! Following Jesus involves making sacrifices, accepting privations, doing things that at times are not very pleasant. Jesus doesn't deceive anyone! He tells us with complete clarity that there are difficulties involved. Someone, truly understanding Jesus’ spirit, has put these words into his mouth: "I never said it would be easy; I said it's worth while." Following Jesus is worthwhile because the reward destined for anyone who follows Jesus well is eternal happiness.

Consider the following story:
*** A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous coast was given enough oil for one month and told to keep the light burning every night. One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Another needed some for an engine. The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some oil to satisfy all. By the end of the month, the tank in the lighthouse was dry. That night the beacon was dark and three ships crashed on the rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost. The lighthouse attendant explained what he had done and why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given only one task: to keep the light burning. Every other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.” ***
Temptation is a choice between good and evil. But perhaps more insidious than temptation is conflict where one must choose between two good options. The lighthouse keeper in our story found himself in such a conflict situation. So also are the would-be disciples in today’s Gospel story. In such cases the good easily becomes the enemy of the best. One must then say no to a good thing in order to say yes to the one thing necessary. Today’s Gospel is a sequence of four incidents and encounters with people who could have become followers of Jesus but who were held back by ulterior concerns and motives. Each encounter highlights a different concern.
1 The first incident is the encounter between the messengers of Jesus and the Samaritan villagers. The concern that holds the Samaritans back from accepting and following Jesus is patriotism. The Samaritans and the Jews had been bitter enemies for centuries and systematically avoided all unnecessary contact with one another. The Samaritan villagers had probably heard about Jesus and what he was doing and were interested. But as soon as they learnt that Jesus and his disciples were Jews and were heading for Jerusalem, their admiration turned into opposition. Patriotism and devotion to the national cause is, of course, a good thing. But when national interest or ethnic sentiments become the eyes through which one sees all reality, including spiritual and eternal reality, one is in danger of losing the proper perspective. Therefore, patriotism must come second.
2 The second incident involves a man who says to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke (9:57-58). Why did Jesus say that? Probably because he perceived that here was a man who valued financial independence and security. It is a good thing to have high economic goals so that one could provide adequately for oneself and for those under one’s care. Yet when this stands in the way of wholehearted following and service of God, then something is wrong. We don't need the comforts of earth in order to follow Jesus. This life is not heaven. We are not in paradise. We may expect to do without from time to time as Jesus proves to us that we don't need the goods of earth to get to heaven.
3 The third incident is that of the man who wanted first to go bury his father before following Jesus. Burying one’s parents is part of the command to “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). So this is a man with high moral principles, a man who keeps the law and is highly concerned for his religious duties. Again this is a very good virtue. It would seem that Jesus is cold, lacking any sentiment of sorrow and mourning for a deceased person; deficient in the respect we must have for our parents. It's not really that way at all. Jesus is saying that we should not allow religious observance to immobilize us and keep us from following Christ who is always on the move into new territories and new challenges. There are at least two interpretations of these words of Jesus. (a) Some say that those who are spiritually dead, who have no sincere desire to live according to the teachings of Jesus, should bury their dead. So we are to love those who are presently spiritually dead, but we have to proclaim the kingdom of God by the way we live. Jesus didn't convert everyone he met and nether can we. We can exercise the two powers God gave us: to LOVE and FORGIVE one another. This is the way God draws us to himself. That is the way we attempt to draw others to the Lord. By loving and forgiving them. But our first job is to be sure we ourselves are on the way to heaven. If others don't want to come along, we give them our good example anyway. Here is the second interpretation (b). The father of this man is not yet dead, but is very old and will probably die within days or weeks, and the man wants to wait until he dies and then bury him. But Christ says no to that; his call is more important. And that is the idea of all these illustrations that the Gospel gives us. The call of Jesus is much more important that any other call, than any other duty or obligation. We have to listen to Jesus; we have to hear Jesus; we have to respond to Jesus. Nothing can be more important than his call. In the final analysis, Jesus’ call is for our benefit, for our salvation.
4 Finally there is the man who wants to go and say farewell to his family before following Jesus. This man has high social and family values. One could only wish that all men could be this sensitive to let their families know their whereabouts at all times! We cannot help but feel that we would have done the exact same thing as this would-be disciple. Didn’t our parents teach all of us when we were young to keep them informed as to when we were leaving the house and when we would be back, and where we were going, and with whom? Yet before the urgent call of the kingdom of God, social and family concerns take a back seat. “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). By looking back, Jesus means one who takes up a vocation but continues to wish they were doing something else. So in this fourth example, Jesus states clearly that although we may have obligations toward our families, his call surpasses these obligations. If, for example, Jesus calls someone to serve in the foreign missions, we can't say that it's more important for us to remain with our families. Jesus does not disparage family spirit and love for family members, but he does say that his call takes priority over such love. So we have to try to understand that at times Jesus is going to ask of us something that requires sacrifice; at times he is going to demand something difficult, some sacrifice, some renunciation of our own desires... even of those which seem to us perfectly good and reasonable, Let's try, then, with God's grace to seek God's will in everything we do. "Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you." Jesus wants us to serve him in our vocation with determination.

These stories show that to follow Christ is to follow him unconditionally. Can you complete the sentence: “I will follow Christ on the condition that …” If you can complete the sentence then you are in the same situation as any of these well meaning but mistaken disciples. Jesus will not accept a second place in our lives. He will be first or nothing. It is all for Jesus or nothing at all.
All this about Christ's call may seem to be something special, for people who have what we generally call a "vocation." But Christ calls all of us. Christ calls us to a life that is different from the life of people who don't know him. Christ calls us to a life of freedom… freedom from the influence of the devil. The whole law is summed up in these words: "Love one another." If we exercise the freedom of the sons of God, we will consecrate our energy towards building a society of friends, a community of believers who treat one another with respect and love. We will make an effort to live a life in the Spirit! That's what Jesus calls us to. The Spirit of Jesus will help us, will enable us, to live putting his teachings into practice.

Today's Gospel speaks about following Christ. It would be a great mistake to treat these words of Christ as if they were simply something from the pages of history, something with significance only for past times. No! These words and the idea they embody do not refer to the past, but contain advice for us today: the call to follow Jesus faithfully and to put his teachings into practice comes to every one of us today! Our baptism has made us members of God's people; we belong to him! Let's try, then, to hear his call and to live in the Spirit that he sends to help and strengthen us.

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Venerable Matt Talbot


(1856-1925)



Matt can be considered the patron of men and women struggling with alcoholism.
Matt was born in Dublin, where his father worked on the docks and had a difficult time supporting his family. After a few years of schooling, Matt obtained work as a messenger for some liquor merchants; there he began to drink excessively. For 15 years—until he was 30—Matt was an active alcoholic.

One day he decided to take "the pledge" for three months, make a general confession and begin to attend daily Mass. There is evidence that Matt's first seven years after taking the pledge were especially difficult. Avoiding his former drinking places was hard. He began to pray as intensely as he used to drink. He also tried to pay back people from whom he had borrowed or stolen money while he was drinking.

Most of his life Matt worked as a builder's laborer. He joined the Secular Franciscan Order and began a life of strict penance; he abstained from meat nine months a year. Matt spent hours every night avidly reading Scripture and the lives of the saints. He prayed the rosary conscientiously. Though his job did not make him rich, Matt contributed generously to the missions.

After 1923 his health failed and Matt was forced to quit work. He died on his way to church on Trinity Sunday. Fifty years later Pope Paul VI gave him the title venerable.

Comment:

In looking at the life of Matt Talbot, we may easily focus on the later years when he had stopped drinking for some time and was leading a penitential life. Only alcoholic men and women who have stopped drinking can fully appreciate how difficult the earliest years of sobriety were for Matt.

He had to take one day at a time. So do the rest of us.

Quote:
On an otherwise blank page in one of Matt's books, the following is written: "God console thee and make thee a saint. To arrive at the perfection of humility four things are necessary: to despise the world, to despise no one, to despise self, to despise being despised by others."

posted by Mike Young @ 12:52 PM