BIBLE STUDY #149
TWENTY THIRD SUNDAY
IN ORDINARY TIME
September 8, 2013
Who can know God’s counsel,
or who can conceive what the LORD intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
or who can conceive what the LORD intends?
For the deliberations of mortals are timid,
and unsure are our plans.
For the corruptible body burdens the soul
and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.
And scarce do we guess the things on earth,
and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty;
but when things are in heaven, who can search them out?
Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom
and sent your holy spirit from on high?
And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
The Word
of the Lord
I, Paul, an old man,
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
I should have liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave
but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus,
urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus,
whose father I have become in my imprisonment;
I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you.
I should have liked to retain him for myself,
so that he might serve me on your behalf
in my imprisonment for the gospel,
but I did not want to do anything without your consent,
so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.
Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while,
that you might have him back forever,
no longer as a slave
but more than a slave, a brother,
beloved especially to me, but even more so to you,
as a man and in the Lord.
So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
The Word
of the Lord
Gospel
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
The Gospel of the Lord
Reflection
I
have found that whatever is important to me, I will find time for, think about,
and plan ahead. After the first week of classes in the seminary, I would sit
down with the syllabus from each class, and see what writing I needed to
accomplish that semester. One fall semester, I had 11 papers – 5 term papers
with a bibliography and footnotes, and 6 reflection papers. I knew that many of
my classmates would wait until the last minute to do their research and the
sources wouldn’t be available, so I started early and got my papers done ahead
of time. The Sunday before finals, I was sitting in my room watching football,
when a friend walked by saw me sitting there, and, incredulously, asked my why
I wasn’t studying or writing papers. I said to him, “When you were spending all
those nights in the student lounge goofing off, guess what I was doing?” It was
important to me to get my work done on time, and I planned ahead.
In
today’s Gospel, Jesus uses the examples of a warrior king and a tower builder
to teach us about discipleship. A warrior king about to enter into battle has
to think about his chances of success; if he doesn’t think he can win, he must
sue for peace. A builder needs to think if he can afford to finish his project.
The
point is, for us as disciples, we to think about our commitment to Jesus,
calculate the cost, and still give ourselves fully to Jesus.
Jesus
tells us that we need to “hate” others, even our own life, if we are to be his
disciples. Used in this context, hate doesn’t mean animosity, but the strongest
possible detachment from the security of our families and of our material
possessions in order to dedicate ourselves fully to the love of the Lord and
the building up of the kingdom.
Jesus
also tells us that, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.” We must be ready to accept persecution and suffering if we are to be disciples. For us, it may not be physical suffering for our faith, but it may include ridicule, unjust treatment, and an attitude of superiority among others about us. People may look at us with disdain for being a catholic, for not being a part of the mainstream. Has our faithfulness cost us anything in these ways? Are we willing to stand up and witness to our faith even if it costs us our reputation, our career, our even family harmony?
cannot be my disciple.” We must be ready to accept persecution and suffering if we are to be disciples. For us, it may not be physical suffering for our faith, but it may include ridicule, unjust treatment, and an attitude of superiority among others about us. People may look at us with disdain for being a catholic, for not being a part of the mainstream. Has our faithfulness cost us anything in these ways? Are we willing to stand up and witness to our faith even if it costs us our reputation, our career, our even family harmony?
Martyrdom is not uncommon in our
time. There have been more martyrs for our faith in the last 50 years than in
the first 200 years of Christianity. Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador El Salvador Egypt
In the first reading from the Book of
Wisdom, we are told that the wise person is not the one who is self sufficient,
but the wise person is the one who relies on God.
In the second reading, Onesimus is a
runaway slave of Philemon. Paul urges Philemon to take Onesimus back as a
brother in Christ, and not a slave. Notice that instead of attacking the
institution of slavery, which he obviously disagreed with, Paul tries to change
the heart of Philemon. If enough hearts were changed, then slavery would
disappear.
Fr. Phil
