13th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle C: Today’s readings: 1 Kings 19:16b, 19-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-18; Luke 9:51-62
In October 1998, at the start of my second year of formation, a project was proposed to us seminarians: each was to choose a scriptural text that would inspire and guide him throughout the year. The passage that initially caught my attention is today’s gospel.
On his journey towards his passion and death in Jerusalem, Jesus encounters three prospective disciples. He does not mince his words in some pathetic attempt to portray discipleship as appealing and fun; quite the contrary, he appears rigid and inflexible.
To the man who offers to follow him wherever he goes, Jesus counters that – unlike foxes and birds – he has no place to lay his head. To the man who wishes to bury his father before following him, Jesus replies with the apparently callous command: “Let the dead bury their dead; but you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And to yet another man who is willing to follow him but wishes to first bid farewell to his family, Jesus says: “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
As a rather naive seminarian, I had expressed my initial attraction for this text to my spiritual director Fr Nicholas Cachia (who sadly left this life too early, 11 months ago). Then, however, even more naively, I admitted that I found it too daunting, and therefore I planned to choose a more soothing text like “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy-burdened, and I will give you rest.”
With a playful smile but a firm voice, my wise mentor countered: “No Brendan; you’re going to stick with the text you found challenging, not the one you find convenient!” Eighteen years of priesthood have repeatedly shown me how right Fr Nicholas was.
How easy it is for us to want to be disciples on our own terms, not the Lord’s. A perfect example is given in today’s gospel by James and John who wish to call down fire from heaven upon the Samaritan village that had rejected Jesus. Instead, Christ rebukes them for exhibiting a heart so unlike his.
It was not callousness that made Jesus speak thus with the three men who wished to follow him, but kindness. He was warning them that following him is not some leisurely walk, or a part-time pursuit. He was reminding them that in the future of every true disciple lies the same cross that was shortly to take his own life. He was showing them that to follow him they needed to have his same burning desire to serve the Kingdom of God.
In the future of every true disciple lies the same cross that was shortly to take his own life
This is the attitude we see in Elisha (today’s first reading). He receives his calling from the prophet Elijah while ploughing with his oxen. Initially he expresses a desire to say farewell to his parents before joining the prophet on the road; yet when Elijah challenges him, he acts decisively and radically. Elisha slaughters two oxen, uses the ploughing equipment as fuel to cook their flesh, and then follows the man of God.
If ever there was a powerful gesture demonstrating a complete break with the past, this is it. By burning plough and oxen, Elisha burns a bridge and a yoke to his past in order to totally embrace his future. This single-mindedness makes him a worthy successor to the great Elijah.
Our own calling to discipleship and holiness – though certainly different in style and circumstances – will be no less radical. As St Paul writes to the Galatians (second reading): “For freedom, Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.”
bgatt@maltachurchtribunals.org