Today's Message: 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time C

1 Kings 19: 16, 19-21; Galatians 5: 1, 13-18; Luke 9: 51-62

There is a very interesting word in the first sentence of the gospel:  “When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, He RESOLUTELY determined to journey to Jerusalem and He sent messengers ahead of Him.”  This seems to be the key word in all of the readings today.  How shall we translate this?  As Jesus 

• being determined
• being stubborn in His ways
• being obstinate
• being steadfast
• being unwavering 
• being faithful…true…loyal

Today Jesus is heading to Jerusalem.  In the synoptic Gospels, the authors only have Jesus going once to Jerusalem because this is the place of His passion, death and resurrection.  He faces huge opposition.  This is a sign that following the path of Jesus will not always be easy, in fact it will definitely be hard.  Each Christian, each one of us is called to discipleship, no matter the cost.  The readings emphasize the demand and the dangers that face us.   Am I listening?  Do I care?  Do I realize God is calling ME at this moment, in this place to respond to the call of discipleship?  Am I a reluctant disciple?   Special note: In the ancient world a disciple was a follower of a teacher. We would think that this would be similar to being a student in today’s world.  It is not!  In the ancient world a disciple actively imitated both the life and the teaching of the master.  One was an apprentice which made the fully formed disciple a living copy of the master. Am I a living disciple of Jesus in this way?

Elijah feels that he is at the end of his prophetic mission.  He even prays for God to take his life.  Instead God directs him to anoint Elisha to succeed him.  Elisha will be present when Elijah is taken up to heaven and asks for and is given a double portion of Elijah’s prophetic powers and spirit.  First Elisha wants to say goodbye to his family.  Elijah isn’t pleased with this and his “Go back!” provides the incentive for a definitive commitment.  Elisha slaughters the oxen, burns the plow and uses all he has to feed the people.  He even cooks the meat over a fire fueled by the wood of his plow.  He has used all his resources, there is no going back to plowing.  From now on Elisha will concentrate on working for God.  Jesus refers to this total commitment in the last sentence in the gospel, emphasizing the cost of discipleship.  

Paul takes this up and explains what it means to be free in the Lord.  This freedom does not mean that I can do anything that I want rather freedom emphasizes the call of what believers are to do and be: they fulfill the law of God by their love of neighbor.  The Spirit keeps us on the right track and strengthens us to resist the desires of the flesh and the lures of the devil.   It seems that the root of the problem for the Galatians appears to be Jewish Christian missionaries who commanded that Gentiles be circumcised according to the Mosaic Law.  Paul says that the Gentile believers are freed from the law of Moses, they are now called to the Law of God and have been given the Holy Spirit as a guide.  The Galatians are to live by the Spirit.  How do they do this?  Paul explains this by showing the distinction between the desires of the flesh:  immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.” (Galatians 5: 19-21) These do not bring us to heaven, they are activities of our lower nature spurned on by the devil.  “In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”  (verses 22-23)  JB Phillips’ New Testament in Modern English translates verses 24-25 so beautifully:  “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their lower nature with all that it loved and lusted for.  If our lives are centered in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit.  Let us not be ambitious for our own reputations, for that only means making each other jealous.” 

In the Gospel of Mark, Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem takes one chapter (#10), in Luke’s Gospel that journey fills 10 chapters  (9:51-19:27).  Along the way , Jesus does a significant amount of teaching about the meaning discipleship.  If I want to follow Jesus, to belong to His group, what must I be committed to?  Is Jesus serious about this?  Definitely…look how He starts off in today’s gospel:  “When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled”… this refers to His suffering, death, resurrection and ascension.  “…He resolutely, determined”.  The Greek expresses these words as ‘He fixed His face” which means that this journey is determined solely by God.  This final journey starts out by the Samaritans rejecting His presence and His teaching.  James and John, Jesus’ nicknamed them the ‘Sons of Thunder,' want Jesus to destroy the entire village.  Very surprisingly Jesus sharply disapproved this suggestion.  Jesus’ way is not about anger and revenge.  These are the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit, Paul explains to the Galatians.  Jesus now encounters three would-be disciples.  His responses to them seem out of character for Jesus since they seem insensitive, almost cruel.  NOT SO!  Jesus is challenging them, and me, to recognize that discipleship requires every person to make very honest, clear and unambiguous choices.  What are the disciples’ priorities?  Are they focused on realizing and living God’s vision of compassion, peace, justice, forgiveness and care and love for every individual?  The difficulties arise because so many of our interests, agenda, expectations and dreams cloud our time and attention.  We lose sight of what is really important.  Is life in Christ and living Christ’s example of love, forgiveness and mercy paramount?  Am I using my energy to live what is authentically important and affirming the meaning of love in my life?  To follow Jesus is to follow God’s way, not what I want.   To follow Jesus is to let go of my own needs and wants.  It means letting go of my fears and doubts and knowing that God is always with me leading me and freeing me to do really great things for the love of God.  

So I reflect on how I am doing:

• Can I be a disciple at certain times and not at others? 
• What do I find most challenging:  peacemaking…serving others?
• What is the one thing that prevents me from following Jesus with all my heart?
• Like James and John, on whom have I mistakenly wanted to call down fire?  How did the Lord correct me?  How long did it take me to listen to the Lord in this?  
• Does being a Christian mean letting people take unfair advantage of Me?  Who decides what is just or unjust?  Do I spend much time trying to control the future?  Do I spend time crying over the past?  
• How determined am I to follow Jesus?

Sacred Space 2019 states:

   “The temptation to use violence motivated by religion was present even within the small circle of the apostles.  Jesus rebukes them and insists that the struggle must take place within our hearts.  Am I really ready to follow Him whatever the cost?  The enthusiasm of the convert is not enough, for the stakes are high, and I really need to deny myself, and carry my cross every day.  It is only by looking at my deeds that I discover how near or far I am from being Jesus’ disciple.

   I look at the quality of my commitments and ask for the grace not to look back as I place my hand on the plough.”