(Homily
23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Yr. C)
The three readings of today seem to have
different themes: the discernment of the
Divine will which is only possible through the Spirit of God; the
transformation of personal relations in Christ and the total renunciation as a
mark of a true discipleship. As such, to figure out a common thread that runs
through the three readings requires dexterity. Wisdom is the keyword recurrent
in the liturgical texts. In the first reading, the human capacity of reasoning
that is weak and uncertain, is opposed to the wisdom with which God teaches man and woman so that they will obtain salvation. The
human prudence makes calculations to know if you can count on sufficient means
to construct a tower or a sufficient number of soldiers to wage war against an
enemy. This prudence is necessary, but in order to be a disciple of Jesus
Christ, the prudence or better the wisdom that comes from God is required, as
exemplified in the Gospel passage. And indeed in the second reading, the letter
of St. Paul to Philemon is it not a real manifestation of wisdom learnt at the
school of faith? Drawing the issue further, we can summarize the liturgical
readings of today thus: The first reading and the responsorial psalm raise a
question; the Gospel offers a response; while the second reading gives us an
example of its existential application. As a matter of fact, in the biblical
logic, the Old Testament reveals an expectation (a waiting), while the New
Testament brings its fulfillment.
The first reading (Wis. 9:13-18) presents a part of prayer which the book of Wisdom
attributes to Solomon. In the first book of the Kings we see the earliest
version of King Solomon’s prayer (1Kg.
3:6-9), where he prayed for understanding. In another occasion he prayed
for wisdom to help him carry out his duties as a King (cf. 2Chr. 1:9-10). However,
in this passage therefore, the sacred writer expatiates the point that the will
of God can only be discerned through the wisdom and Spirit of God. The question
emanating from the first reading with reference to the wisdom, the thought or
will of God is this: “What human being indeed can know the intentions of God?
And who can comprehend the will of the Lord?” (v.13). The answer is in the negative: No one! The passage tells us
with much clarity that man is not capable of knowing the will of God. Man can
only know the thoughts of God if God reveals them to him, and God revealed
himself to man: “And who could ever have known your will, had you not given
Wisdom and sent your holy Spirit from above?” (v.17). The human person many a times does not even know what he
wants. Man lacks the indication of an existential scope or the sense for
living, the drama is condensed in the following words of the psalmist: “All our
days pass under your wrath; our lives are over like a sigh. The span of our
life is seventy years, eighty for those who are strong, but their whole extent
is anxiety and trouble, they are over in a moment and we are gone” (Ps. 90:9-10), before this bitter fact,
the modern man falls into desperation and finds refuge in the materialistic
point of view: “let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die” (cf. Is. 22:13); the biblical man as we
have heard in the responsorial psalm finds refuge in prayer, he asks God the
grace to learn how to count his days, to gain wisdom of heart.
The Gospel passage (Lk. 14:25-33) consists of Jesus’ demands and the cost of discipleship.
And Jesus used two parables to illustrate his point on the cost of
discipleship: the tower builder and the king going to war. In verse (26) it says “Anyone who comes to
me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and
his own life too, cannot be my disciple”, the verb hate here is somewhat harsh,
however, there is a suggestion that the original Aramaic entails “loving less”.
But that does not really portray the real meaning therein. By that Jesus
intends to teach his disciples that to follow Him one has to surrender the
whole of one’s life.
In this passage Jesus speaks of the
necessity of hating one’s relatives and one’s life, in order to be able to take
the Cross and follow Him. He admonishes his disciples to check very well their
strength and capabilities before embarking on the journey of his discipleship.
As such, Jesus gives instances of the man who wanted to construct a tower and the King who was about to engage another King in a war. Is as if Jesus is telling us, before you come to me,
think about it very well, but it is somewhat surprising, that the Jesus who
said: “Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you
rest” (Mt. 11:28), and now
apparently in this passage he gives us a somewhat discouraging admonition. But
that is not the case, in order to understand the meaning of these words, we
need to identify whom they were addressed to, they were addressed to the disciples, those that have already said yes
to Jesus and to the Gospel and they are following Him. So they are not in doubt
on whether to follow Jesus or not, but on how to follow Him. What are the
exigencies of the sequela Christi?
Accepting the Kingdom of God is indeed a hard nut to crack, it is a decisive
choice. However, many a times some of
the disciples of Jesus lack awareness about the seriousness and the radicality
of the call of Jesus. Maybe they thought like in the mentality of that
time, that to follow Jesus, the Messiah entails grabbing every form of
triumphalism, even though they must have understood that following Jesus is
something important, but not to the point of renouncing oneself. As such, the
passage of this Gospel gives us some indications or conditions for following
Christ and to be his disciple: ● Whoever wishes to follow Christ must give
precedence to Christ in everything. He has to occupy the first position in our
life. ● To be a disciple of Christ entails following the Master and carrying
one’s cross daily, it involves the ability to “follow the Lamb wherever he
goes” (Rev. 14:4). ● To follow
Christ one must detach himself or herself from earthly riches. ● The
consciousness that being a disciple of Christ or being a Christian is serious
and demanding, little wonder, Jesus expects whoever wishes to follow Him to
ponder over it properly.
As a mater fact, the heart of Christian
wisdom is the choice of Christ, and it is an existential choice. This helps us
to understand better the conclusive words of Jesus’ discourse: “So in the same
way, none of you can be my disciple without giving up all that he owns” (v.33), thus, renouncing all for Christ
means not putting anything before Him. There
is incompatibility in the choice; it is a fundamental option that determines
all other choices. Jesus and his message of salvation have to be the
priority of the disciple.
Indeed, it is indispensable to read the
passage of this Gospel without reference to the preceding verses, that is the
parable of those invited to the banquet (cf.
Lk. 14:15-24). Also it is necessary to read this passage in the light of
the successive verses (cf. Lk. 14:34-35),
this equally speaks of the disciple who have not understood that he has become
lukewarm, and that he is just moving ahead for inertia. The same words used to
reproach the Christian community of Laodicea can be addressed to some
Christians today: “I know about your activities: how you are neither cold or
hot. I wish you were one or the other, but since you are neither hot nor cold,
but only lukewarm, I will spit you out of my mouth” (Rev. 3:15-16).
In the second reading (Phil. 1.9-10.12-17) we see the story of Onesimus, a slave who run
away from his master Philemon, a Christian of Colossae, who had joined Paul in
prison. When Paul was writing this letter he was already old, but also in
prison under chains in Rome, as a result of his fidelity to Christ. The
interesting part of this story is that through the influence of Paul, Onesimus
was converted to Christianity. After his conversion to Christianity, Paul
mediated between Onesimus and his Master, Philemon. In sending Onesimus back to
his Master, Paul commended him as no longer a slave, but a dear brother in the
Lord. However, through this wonderful intervention of Paul he did not in any
way abolish slavery, which would have been impossible in the ancient world. But
at least he succeeded in transforming the relationship that was existing
between them, from a master-slave relationship to a brother-brother
relationship. Paul maintained that in Christ there is no longer anyone like a
slave, rather we are free sons and daughters of God. Behold, at the heart of this passage is the message that our faith as
Christians does not encourage barriers, divisions and discrimination of any
kind. Our Christian faith teaches us to recognize all as brothers and sisters,
thus sons and daughters of the same Father.
Behold, the pivot on which revolves the
message of this Sunday is on divine Wisdom as opposed to human prudence or
wisdom. Jesus is the One who reveals to
us the sapiential vision of life, for He is the wisdom of the Father,
incarnated and made visible. Therefore, following Him, “Way, Truth and
Life” entails walking on the path of that Wisdom that comes from above. And
whoever that walks on this path is endowed with divine Wisdom, just as St.
Paul. And the presence of the divine Wisdom in him was manifested in his
brotherly and affectionate intervention in the matter bothering Philemon and
Onesimus. It is by means of divine
Wisdom that the status of Onesimus was raised from a slave to a beloved brother.
And no doubt, to be one of the disciples of Christ, one needs the Wisdom that
comes from above.
Dear Jesus give us this Wisdom that comes
from above so that we may be enabled to love you more, love our brothers and
sisters sincerely and follow you authentically. Amen!!
(Fr. Vitus M.C.
Unegbu, SC)
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