BIBLE STUDY #10
TWENTY THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
SEPTEMBER 5, 2010


Gospel Luke 14:25-33


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."


The Gospel of the Lord


Reflection


Today’s gospel is a continuation from last Sunday’s gospel, and, like last weeks gospel, is concerned with discipleship in our Christian journey towards salvation. Last week we heard about the demands of table fellowship with the Lord; this week we hear about relationships and possessions in the kingdom of God.


Jesus gives us three demands of discipleship, without which we cannot be his disciples: first, we must hate our father and mother, and even our own life; secondly, we must carry our cross everyday; and thirdly, we must renounce our possessions. Not exactly the kind of statements you would put on a recruiting poster for Christianity, but a necessity if we are to be Jesus’ disciples.

The first demand to hate your mother and your father seems ludicrous because Jesus always tells us to love one another, even our enemies. Jesus is referring to the priorities in our lives. This is a harsh way to say that God must come first in our lives, even at the expense of our families. It brings home the point that putting God first may not be easy and the cost of faith may be rejection by our families. Are we willing to attend mass on Sunday even at the ridicule of others? When there is a family wedding, would you go to Sunday mass when no one else is? If you met someone you wanted to marry and they needed a prior marriage annulled, would you wait for that annulment? What would you do if the annulment wasn’t granted? You would have to decide between your faith and your fiancée. What would you do?


Jesus tells us that putting God first extends to our own life. We think we know what is good for ourselves, that we can make our own decisions. Why, then, is there so much unhappiness in the world? At the risk of oversimplification, I’d say it is precisely because we make our own decisions. How many times have we said to ourselves, “What was I thinking when I did that?” Or “If I had to do it all over again…” Or “Next time I’ll know better?” If I had a nickel for every time I said that, I’d be rich. I’m sure it is the same for you, too. Since God knows the best way to live, the more we listen to God the better off we will be. We may say that God is first in our lives, but if so, why can’t most Catholics even devote one hour a week to mass?


The second demand of discipleship is to bear our crosses. Anything that is worthwhile has a cost. Anything worthwhile is worth the sacrifice. Getting a college degree, for example, takes a lot of time, effort, and money, yet the end result is to be educated and have better job opportunities. So the effort is worth it.


The same is true with marriage. Good marriages just don’t happen, they are the result of a lot of work. The efforts we put in, the sacrifice, the caring, the loving, the dedication, the commitment, all result in something special. Marriage isn’t easy, but it can be very rewarding.


Our faith can also be demanding. It is difficult to be kind in an unkind world, to be sacrificial in selfish world, to be forgiving in an unforgiving world, to love in an unloving world. When people hurt us, we don’t want to forgive, we want revenge. When people insult us, we want to do the same to them. We are called as disciples to live by Christian principles: to be kind, loving, forgiving etc., no matter how people treat us. It is hard to forgive someone who has hurt us, but by holding onto our hurt and anger we are destroying ourselves. When we don’t let go of these hurts, we are letting the other person control of feelings, our moods, even our actions. Letting go of these bad feelings towards another means to let go of the hold the other person has on us.


The third demand of discipleship is to renounce our possessions. Does Jesus really mean to give everything away? When the rich young man comes to Jesus asking about eternal life, Jesus at first tells him to keep the commandments, then on further inquiry tells him to sell what he has and give it to the poor. The young man just turned and walked away. I think I would have questioned Jesus on this point because there are other examples in the gospels where Jesus doesn’t demand us to give everything away. Zaccheus is a good example. He gave away half of what he had and offered to pay back four fold to those he had cheated. Jesus seemed happy with that and dined with him that evening.


In continuing the mission and ministry of Jesus, the Church never calls us to a life of poverty. The exception would be those who join religious orders and take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience (FYI, diocesan priests like myself do not take a vow of poverty). In fact, the social justice teaching of the church says we all are entitled to good jobs that pay a just wage and benefits. The goal of Catholic Charities is to assist in lifting people out of poverty into a decent way of life. Also, tithing in scripture is not giving away everything, but it is donating 10% to charity.


Things of the world are not good or bad, people are good and bad. The problems arise when people misuse the gifts of the earth. It is no sin to have things – we all want to have a decent standard of living, some savings, be able to educate our children, and be able to retire comfortably. It is sinful, however, to be greedy. It is sinful to put material possessions first in our lives, over family, friends, and God. It is sinful not to share our material possessions with those in need. It is sinful when the accumulation and retention of wealth is our only goal in life. Renouncing our possession means that we don’t let those things control our lives. It means that we don’t let the things of the earth deflect us in any way from our Christian mission to love God and to love each other.


However, we can’t renounce our possessions and then fail to give any of it away. If our possessions don’t control us, we should be able to give at least some of it away. And we should do it even if we don’t get a tax break.


Think about this: the U.S. is less than 5% of the world’s population and consumes more than 50% of the worlds good and services. Is there any wonder why so many of the people in the world live below the poverty level and go hungry every day when social scientists tells us that there is enough food in the world right now to feed everybody? I know that the U.S. is a very generous country, but are we (not the government) doing enough?


According to the Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD), a part of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), the poverty rate in the U.S. in 2008 was 13.2% or 39.8 million people, up from 12.5% in 2007, or 37.3 million. In 2008, there were 17 million people living in extreme poverty in the U.S., defined as earning less than half the poverty level. This is in the richest country that ever existed.


I tell you all of this not to be accusatory but to be informative and to make you think. All 3 requirements of discipleship are radical and call us to rethink how we are living our Christian lives. The demands are great, but God’s grace is there for us. Like the king going to war and the man building a tower from today’s gospel, if we are not prepared to pay the cost, our discipleship will be frustrated.


I suggest that if God seems distant, if our faith is flagging, and we are losing our resolve, it is not God turning away from us, but us not taking up the demands of discipleship.



Fr. Phil