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| “Care of the Sick”(detail) by Domenico Di Bartolo, 1441-42 |
Commentary:
Reading 1: Philippians 2:12-18
Commentary on Phil 2:12-18
Having just exhorted the community to follow Christ’s example of humility, he now continues with his fourth counsel – obedience and selflessness. He begins his exhortation in classic biblical terms “with fear and trembling” not out fear like the pagans of some capricious deity but out of humility before the God upon whom they depend for salvation (see Exodus 15:16, Isaiah 19:16, and Psalm 2:11). He tells them to allow God’s grace to work through them, even when it is difficult.
It is clear that there is anticipated resistance from the secular community whom they are told they must invite without joining – they are to “shine like lights in the world, as you hold on to the word of life.” Obedience to the Gospel and selfless service to its call are summed up in St. Paul’s invitation to join him in sacrificial service.
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 27:1, 4, 13-14
R. (1a) The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Commentary on Ps 27:1, 4, 13-14
Psalm 27 is an individual lament. Here, the singer expresses faith in God, who is the refuge of the faithful longing to find ultimate safety and the bounty of God’s heavenly kingdom. This passage from the psalm captures the two major themes: hope in God’s mercy, and complete trust in his goodness. In these strophes, David longs for the Lord’s protection and the gift of life which flows from God's salvation.
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Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
Commentary on Lk 14:25-33
The Lord, perhaps in an action intended to identify those who had the zeal to be true disciples, tells the crowd of the necessity of total dedication to the call to discipleship. They had seen his recent miracles of healing and were, no doubt, hoping to learn wisdom from him.
He tells them that they must place their love of God first, in front of family and even their own lives. He tells them, through two examples – the construction of the tower and the evaluation of the battle – that they must measure the sacrifice needed to be his follower. He punctuates his statement by telling them they must “renounce” all their possessions to follow him.
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Reflection:
Since we are still basking in the glow or suffering in the gloom of yesterday’s elections it is appropriate that the Gospel message we hear speaks to us about the choices we make in our lives. Luke says Jesus is traveling with a large crowd. The Lord turns to address them, knowing that many are just hangers-on or curiosity seekers. Then he gives them both barrels, as the old saying goes. Skipping to the end of his parables the Lord says; “In the same way, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
We can imagine the effect this statement had on that large group. Our guess would be that after that speech, most of that crowd would just fade away. We know that during Jesus’ ministry his popularity rose and fell. We say fell because at the end, in the garden, even his most faithful followers fled in the face of the impending passion. Who indeed could drink that cup? Who can worthily carry that banner forward? It is our great solace that he hears us as we repeat the centurion's words during the Mass; “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” (Matthew 8:8b; Luke 7:6b)
We see things are getting a bit morbid as we think about the Lord’s life and lessons. It is not intended to be so. We are called to follow the Lord. We are given several very difficult axioms of discipleship to follow;
-Love God and love one another.
-Turn away from sin (defined as a conscious failure to love)
-Empty ourselves of pride and humbly follow Jesus.
-Dedicate ourselves totally to living by his example (what we hear today)
-All we do must, like Jesus’ actions, must be for the greater glory of the Father (not ours)
We said these are the axioms of discipleship. They sit on top of our profession of faith and are in parallel to the Decalogue (Ten Commandments) and the doctrines of faith promulgated by the teaching magisterium of the Church. As best we can tell, those now living disciples who come closest to this ideal are the priests, bishops, vowed religious, and those who consecrate themselves to God’s service.
We, who live in a married state, would find it difficult to follow this most recent injunction literally. But that does not mean we should think that it does not apply to us. The person who accepts a vocation to marriage lives in sacramental grace. The Lord himself blesses this union and the Church sees it as a symbol of the love Jesus, the bridegroom, has for his bride, the Church. It is not reasonable or responsible for a married couple to neglect their duties to the welfare of the family. How those of us living the sacramental vocation of marriage should respond to Jesus’ invitation to give up everything to follow him is the question at the heart of our individual search for the will of God in our lives.
How do we reconcile our need to provide for the needs of our family whom we love and at the same time selflessly follow Jesus? We are not going to get to that answer here, and even once we find it the answer we find moves on. We ask ourselves: what can I do in my daily life to follow the example of Jesus? We struggle with our humanness that wants us to do what is self-serving and suppress our compassion and generosity for the sake of visible success in secular society.
It is our constant struggle with the opposing forces of good and evil in our lives that makes the example the Lord set for us so difficult. Our prayer for today is: Lord, help me to make right choices today. Let us serve you in all we do. May our successes bring you glory and our failures serve to instruct us in a greater love of your Son’s passion.
Pax
[1] The picture used today is “Care of the Sick”(detail) by Domenico Di Bartolo, 1441-42.
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