September 4^th 2016.Twenty Third Sunday of Ordinary Time

GOSPEL:Luke 14:25-33

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL:Luke 14:25-33

Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them.
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.

Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “‘ Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish”. Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . The words of the Gospel seem very radical. Are we really being told that we must hate our family members in order to follow Jesus? Jesus wishes us to know that the Christian life is not some piece of furniture in the living room that does no harm to anyone. It is not a benign therapy that makes us feel good and leads us nowhere. It is not a rationalist ethical programme for life. The Christian life has its origin in the virginal conception of Mary, an event that does not come from human seed. Jesus comes in order to lead us from this earthly life to the heavenly Father, and this is a journey that requires the renunciation of the earthly and an embracing of the heavenly. The Gospel passage tells us that we should sit down and think about this in a reasoned manner, like a man about to build a tower, or a general about to engage in battle. Do we really wish to follow Jesus? If so, then we better appreciate what a radical transformation of life this involves. The Lord wants to transform our essence, not just improve our behaviour in a superficial way. He has thrown open the gates of heaven, given us the Eucharist which makes us temples of his body, invited us into spousal communion with him. This cannot be achieved if we remain as we are, attached to our own earthly and worldly ways of life. When we pray the Our Father, we say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”. But then we continue in our mediocrity, pursuing our will on earth. To reach heaven we must detach ourselves from the things of this earth. We cannot bring the idols of this world into the next.

The words in the Gospel are very radical and seem to say that we must sacrifice our family relationships in order to be Christian. But the meaning of the passage is deeper than the words. It is calling for a new type of life that is detached from the old way of relating and doing

This week’s Gospel is one of the most radical in all of the Biblical literature. The modern translation (in the Italian version) tries to make the words of Jesus more comprehensible. Instead of saying, “Anyone who comes to me without hating his father, mother, etc, cannot be my disciple”, the new Italian translation tries to be more accessible: “If someone comes to me and does not love me more than he loves his father, mother, etc,”. But even with new translations, the passage in itself uses the language of contraposition, the famous “evangelical antipathy” that is spoken of much less in modern spirituality than it was in bygone ages. How are we to understand the sense of such a passage that seems to exhort a radical break in familial relationships? The thing is that the passage does not speak only of despising father, mother, sisters and sisters, but also one’s own life. In the end it is a question of life. And whilst we might first be taken aback that Jesus would appear to speak against the commandment to honour one’s parents, the fact is that Jesus is talking about a way of life on a much deeper level. The Gospels in general often use paradoxical language to express certain truths, and whoever has difficulty with such language would be better off not opening the Bible at all! It is typical of the Semitic mind to use a paradoxical mode of expression.

The Gospel asks us to reason things out in a calculated manner, like a man about to build a tower or a general about to engage in battle. Do we wish to follow Christ authentically? If so, then our lives must be radically transformed. Christianity is not a piece of furniture in the living room but a transfiguration of our essence, our way of doing things, our way of relating to others.

This Gospel begins by asking us to renounce our affective relationships, but then goes even further to say that we must carry our cross and follow the Lord. We are to renounce all our possessions using the same kind of logic that one uses when constructing a tower or going to war. We must calculate if we are capable of bring to completion our intention to follow Jesus. Leaving behind everything we own, carrying our cross, making a radical break in our affective relationships – all of these are part of the calculation that we have to make in order to follow the Lord. But what does it all mean? If we think that Christianity is some sort of generic benevolence in which we are all non-prophetic just like everyone else, where we all share the mentality of the spirit of the age, then we will have difficulty explaining passages such as these. However, if we realize that the Lord Jesus has come upon to earth to redeem us authentically, then these words begin to make sense. He wishes our essence to be changed radically, transfigured, not just made better in a superficial sense. If we believe that Jesus has thrown open the gates of heaven, if we believe in the Eucharist which makes us the temple of his body and creates a spousal union between him and us, the Church, then our attitude towards these challenging words is different. The first reading from Wisdom says, “Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul”. In other words, we are called to a different kind of life that comes down from heaven. Our life is corruptible, our reasoning is weak and uncertain, our wisdom is very incomplete. The divine grace that generates newness within us involves a radical break with what is purely human.  Let us recall that Christianity begins with the virginal conception within the Blessed Virgin Mary. In a woman, not by human seed, a saviour is born, the Lord Jesus, who carries us towards the heavenly Father. The Christian life is a battle between the mentality of the flesh and the mentality of the spirit. This battle can be avoided by those who wish to make Christianity into a piece of furniture in the living room, but it is essential for those who wish to welcome Christianity in its full integrity. If the redemption of Christ only serves to give me the kind of life that I already possess, then why would I bother renouncing the idols of this world, or giving up my possessions? I would then be content with a rationalist, illuminated approach to life that focuses on ethics and nothing more. In this case, I would stay exactly as I am, content with things as they already are.

Christianity is not some sort of therapy that gives us what we want and leaves us as we are. It is something that leads to true growth. What do we want? An ordinary life or a heavenly life? A heavenly life requires renunciation, purification, detachment from the old.

But Jesus has opened for us the gates of heaven and announced to us something more. This “something more” challenges us to separate ourselves from our “paternal home”, from our human mentality. There is a great difference between our way of life and the life of Christ, and the cross of Christ is the instrument for eliminating that within us which is old. The cross brings the work of Christ to life in us. This Gospel speaks of renunciation, of division, of purification. All of these are essential! Christianity is not a therapy that pampers us with all the things we want. It is a true therapy of the human being that leads to true growth, not something that is pleasant and sentimental. It is a kind of life that is nothing short of extraordinary. This Gospel challenges us to ask ourselves if we wish to live lives that are ordinary or heavenly. When we pray the Our Father we say, “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” and then we go on to live lives that are mediocre! Such mediocrity is not compatible with our faith! When two people get married, they marry each other in order to achieve something extraordinary. When a person takes on a beautiful project, he wishes to accomplish something great and sublime. When someone wishes to love another person, he wishes to do something heavenly and exalted and true. Our hearts desire heaven, but to reach heaven we must detach ourselves from earth. We cannot remain within our old categories. We cannot bring the idols of this world with us into the next.