Jun 26., 2016   /   Homilies, Soul Food

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Luke 9: 51-62)

By Fr. Braulio Dahunan, SJ

Is Jesus trying to attract or to discourage followers?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus is so honest and upfront in bringing about the hardships and difficulties it will involve in following Him. He gives three scenarios to illustrate his point.
The first scenario is about this person who feels so drawn to Jesus that before he’s even called, he takes the initiative himself. He resolutely says, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus, however, wants to make him aware if he truly means what he is saying, and Jesus tells him, “Foxes have holes and the birds of the air their nests, but the Son of Man who has nowhere to lay his head.” Here Jesus is trying to show that to follow Him is to relinquish one’s security and well-being. To follow Jesus is a risky venture. He offers neither security nor well-being. To follow Jesus means not settling down in well-being and not seeking false securities. Following Jesus means entrusting one’s self to and trusting more in Jesus.
The second scenario is on someone who is ready to follow him, but asks first to fulfill the sacred obligation of burying his father. But Jesus response to him is quite unsettling, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Jesus is trying to show that to follow Him means to make a firm decision. To open up paths to God’s Kingdom by working for that which is life-giving is always the most important task. Nothing must affect one’s decision. No one must hold him back or stop him.
The third scenario is about this person who wants to say goodbye to his family before following him, Jesus says: “No one who puts hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Here Jesus makes clear that following Him means there is no looking back. To follow Him is to focus one’s attention on Him and His mission. It’s not possible to open up paths to God’s Kingdom being imprisoned in the past and being unable to look on what lies ahead.
Are we attracted or discouraged to follow Jesus as he shows to us what it really means to follow Him?
Following Jesus is not mainly based on attraction or discouragement, because if it is our only basis, then our following of Jesus will not be that meaningful and it will surely not endure to the very end. However, following Jesus must be based on how much we deeply love Him.
Jesus’ words are not meant to just simply attract or discourage, it is truly meant to challenge us, His followers. Jesus’ challenge for all us is this—if we want to follow him we will have to love him even more than we love those for whom we would normally have the deepest natural affection. As God’s representative, as God’s Son, Jesus alone is to be loved in the way that God is to be loved, with all our heart, soul, strength and mind. Nothing less will do for God or for God’s Son. Jesus seems to be saying that if we want to be his disciples, we can’t be half-hearted about it. Our following of the Lord is not a casual affair; it needs to be carefully considered, just as someone who decides to build a tower or to go to war needs to think it through thoroughly beforehand. To follow Jesus means a complete dedication of self, an abandonment of all other attachments and involvements. Anyone who is willing to follow Christ must absolutely and completely entrust himself or herself to Him, let Him dictate what the proper attachments are, and let Him take care of his or her well-being. Becoming Christ’s disciple means to truly and sincerely commit to Him and His teaching. And so, we must establish our priorities and not to allow things to stand in the way of that which we consider important. Thus, Christianity is not only a Sunday morning religion. It is a hungering after Jesus to the point of death if need be. It shakes our foundations, topples our priorities, pits us against friend and family and makes us strangers in this world and people call us: “out of our minds!”
Are we able to keep up with the challenge of being followers of Jesus? Honestly, we are not! We have not been following Jesus with all our hearts. We have not been fully responding to the demands of the Gospel. We have not been completely faithful to Christ. Rightly so, because no one in this world, with the exception of Mary, has ever been able to live that absolute dedication of self to Christ in the absolute manner that we hope to do.
As we continue to desire to follow Christ, we have to humbly acknowledge that we are never right up with Christ, never in any way His equal. As we continue to keep up with the challenges of following Him, we do not have to worry about that, about perfection. We just have to strive our very best to love Him passionately and serve Him generously as we can every day. Following Jesus is not all about relinquishing or giving-up, but it is more on bequeathing or giving, which is solely motivated by our love for Jesus. Following Jesus is not only making a firm decision, but it is more on abiding on one’s decision because of love. Following Jesus is not just about not looking back, but it is more on treading forward with much devotion to Jesus and His mission.
My dear friends, as we continue with our Eucharistic Celebration, let us humbly beg the Lord through the intercession of Mary, our Mother, to grant us the grace to live our Christian vocation with passionate love for Jesus and allow ourselves to be challenged by Jesus’ words and examples in the Gospel so that we will be more inspired to respond freely and creatively to the new needs and demands of our world and of the Church. Amen.