13^th SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

 

Readings: 1Kings 19:16, 19-21

                 Galatians 5:1, 13-18

                 Luke 9:51-62

 

 

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nest;

but the Son of Man nowhere to lay his head.”

 

 

            If we recall, one of the salient points we meditated upon last Sunday was the “had way” which accompanies the meaning of Christ’s messiaship. And as Christ’s messiaship has become a model of Christian discipleship, anyone then who follows him must also take the hard way. Today, Christ expounds even more the call of discipleship and the life it entails. And he does so b making use of some “models” through which he draws and points out some characteristics of what a disciple is and must be according to his divine standards and ideals.

 

            1.         These “models”, so to say, are personified by three different persons the Lord gets across with as they journey to another village. Let us try to get a closer look at them.

 

            a.         “As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, ‘I will follow you wherever you go.’” The first model is personified by this someone (Matthew describes him as a scribe – cf Mt 8:19) who approaches the Lord and expresses his desire to follow him. Here the manifest initiative comes from the man. Thus, the Lord answers by telling him honestly what kind of life he is leading: “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nest; but he Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” With this answer, we do not know whether this man really follows him. One may assume that he does since the initiative comes from him. But it may be possible too that he backs out, like the rich young man who goes away sad after learning what discipleship means. Anyhow, we are not certain. The gospel is simply silent.

 

            b.         The second model is portrayed by the Lord’s encounter with another man whom he himself calls: “Follow me.” Here, the initiative comes from the Lord himself. But unfortunately, this follower to be (Matthew describes him as one of his disciples – cf Mt 8:21) makes some good excuses for delay: “{Lord,} let me go first and bury my father.” But even then, Jesus seems to insist: “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Again, we do not know whether he follows or not. Maybe, he does, sensing the Lord’s irritancy and insistence. Or maybe not. He could not just leave his father dead and unburied. Well, the gospel is again silent.

 

            c.         Finally, the third model comes with the other man who says: “I will follow you Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” Like the first, this man expresses his intention to follow, but like the second, his family seems to pull him back. So, he tries to make a compromise. Although the gospel is not explicit about his following, we have the good reason to assume as the gospel suggests that he does not make himself a disciple. Jesus seems to dismiss him: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

            2.         These “models” do not really give us which of hem makes a true disciple. In fact, as we see the gospel is silent about the followings of the first two. This is most probably because that is not the primary concern of the evangelist. Rather, his concern is to portray Jesus teaching about the evangelic meaning of following him, and he uses these three occasions simply to draw out some characteristics of true discipleship patterned unto his standards.

 

            a.         Discipleship is first and foremost a vocation. It is a game of call and response. Thus, two things are necessary: God’s call and man’s response. When either of them is wanting, surely no genuine discipleship is possible. This we safely deduce from the “models” given. In the first “model”, the initiative comes from the man. We must be happy that there are indeed people who take the initiative towards discipleship. But first grace is always gratuitous. And this applies to vocation. The call must start from God and not from man. This explains why vocations drop tremendously after months and years in the seminary or in the formation house. It is not only because “many are called but few are chosen,” but also because there are just a good number of them who have not even been called at all. Sometimes, they only pretend to be called. At other times, they really believe they are called. Only after long painful years must they accept the sad fact that they are not.

 

            Neither does God’s call without man’s response work. This is the message of the second “model”. God takes the initiative: “Follow me.” But what can such beautiful divine design do when answered by many excuses? The gospel suggests that Jesus seems to be irritated and thus insists: “But you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” This may remind us of the call of Moses and the call of Jeremiah. But they are just exceptional biblical characters whose calling must not be made a perfect model even to the ordinary setting in today’s vocation. Besides, God himself knows that man’s authentic response comes from a free heart that loves and not from pressure of any sort. Lest, it won’t make any good. In fact, this explains why there are a good number of would be followers who make their discipleship quite good at the start, but simply turns out bad in the long run. Indeed, sooner or later they will always find time to bury their dead.

 

            b.         Detachment from the world and attachment to the lord is the necessary consequence of this game of call and response. Or better, this is the essential part of it. In fact, this is the central point of all the “models”. Of course, we must not take them with their pure literal value. Otherwise, no priest must have a bed, no follower must attend any funeral, and every true disciple must forget about his good manners of bidding goodbye to his elders. And this is non-sense. But we must not take them to mean simply figuratively either. Otherwise, they may also sere as an excuse to those who preach about “evangelical poverty” and yet enjoy the luxuries in life. And this is also an over sense.

 

            Discipleship in today’s gospel has its own real sense: detachment from the world. This detachment starts from the basic relations in the family, then to a life of solitude or in a community. Now this detachment does not simply mean non-ownership. There are a lot of such disciples who do not own anything at all but are deeply attached to the many things at their disposal. And sadly, they make an easy excuse by saying: “Yes, I have then but I do not own them.” This is just a subtle way of setting a hand to the plow yet looking back at what is left behind. The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head not only because he has no home at all but also because he does not stay in one home for long. This is what a follower must do. And he has one reason for such detachment: his discipleship is at the same time a total attachment to the Lord.