June 30, 2019: 13th Sunday C
June 30, 2019: 13th Sunday C
Audio Homily: https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=10349480
Holy Is His Name: https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=10349456
“Don’t start anything you can’t finish.” It was a piece of advice that a young newlywed received from her mother. It may sound like good advice, but how does one know ahead of time whether one can or cannot finish an undertaking? How could the young wife have known ahead of time that she would be able to cope with heartaches of being a mother? Her first child was still-born, her second child had cerebral palsy, and her third child had downs-syndrome? Had she known ahead of time that her marriage would be filled with such challenges, would she have even considered getting married? After 23 years of marriage and raising children, this wife and mother reflected, "I believe suffering is redemptive and struggles are edifying. I believe the challenges we face make us better people. I believe that St. Francis was right when he said, 'A single sunbeam is enough to drive away many shadows.'"
My dad gave me advice before I entered the seminary, "Don't enter seminary if you're not going to become one of the best priests." My dad understood priesthood in terms of a secular career. You work hard, climb the ladder, and earn high places. However, I learned from Mother Teresa's example early on that religious life is not like an engineering career. Mother Teresa accepted young women into her religious order as long as they met her strict requirements. They had to live without an income, personal possessions, or attachments outside the religious order. Mother Teresa expected her nuns to serve the poor willingly and happily and always with a smile. She wanted them to wash open sores, change bedpans, and mop up vomit and excrement with the same respect and reverence they would show if they were caring for Jesus. She told her young aspiring nuns, "If you don't have the zeal to help the poor, to take good care of the lepers, then you should pack up and go home. No need to stay." It's stark advice from a saint, but it's no different than what Jesus told his would-be disciples.
To one disciple Jesus said, "Follow me." And the disciple requested of Jesus to first say farewell to his family at home. Jesus' answer was stark, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." Is Jesus discouraging those who want to follow him and know more about God? Instead, Jesus is reminding us to count the cost before joining, for one cannot become a casual disciple of Jesus. Either we serve the Lord, or we serve far lesser gods--namely, security, comfort, and pride. Consider how we respond to God when he calls us. Do we respond to God with total surrender like Blessed Mother, "Let it be done to me according to your word?" Or is our response to God half-hearted, "I will follow you but on my own terms. I will follow you if it doesn't cost time, energy, and reputation." It is easy to veer off from our calling from God when we lose focus of our destination. A drill sergeant at a boot camp gave advice to his new recruits who were physically and mentally tired: "When you feel like quitting, think about why you started."
Jesus has shown us that our destination is Heaven, the New Jerusalem. "When the days for Jesus' being taken up were fulfilled, Jesus resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem." Jesus knew that he would face opposition, defection, suffering, and death in Jerusalem. Yet, his love for his Father and his children urged him not to look back, but to plow on. His resurrection and ascension opened a path to the New Jerusalem for all God's children. It's not an easy path, Jesus warned, and those who travel on this narrow path must prepare for opposition and difficulties. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." (Luke 14:27) While what we face day-to-day will be at times difficult and challenging, each suffering chisels away at our self-dependence and allows us to cling to God. We do not journey alone on the way to the New Jerusalem. Just as Jesus accompanied the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, the Holy Spirit guides us away from the desires of the flesh, fame, and fortune. When we keep our hearts and hands on the plow toward the New Jerusalem as our destiny, we help build the kingdom of God.
Audio Homily: https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=10349480
Holy Is His Name: https://oembed.libsyn.com/embed?item_id=10349456
To one disciple Jesus said, "Follow me." And the disciple requested of Jesus to first say farewell to his family at home. Jesus' answer was stark, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." Is Jesus discouraging those who want to follow him and know more about God? Instead, Jesus is reminding us to count the cost before joining, for one cannot become a casual disciple of Jesus. Either we serve the Lord, or we serve far lesser gods--namely, security, comfort, and pride. Consider how we respond to God when he calls us. Do we respond to God with total surrender like Blessed Mother, "Let it be done to me according to your word?" Or is our response to God half-hearted, "I will follow you but on my own terms. I will follow you if it doesn't cost time, energy, and reputation." It is easy to veer off from our calling from God when we lose focus of our destination. A drill sergeant at a boot camp gave advice to his new recruits who were physically and mentally tired: "When you feel like quitting, think about why you started."
