By Fr. Marcel Uzoigwe, C.S.Sp. (1Kg 19:16,19-21; Ps.15, Gal 5:1,13-18; Lk 9:51-62)
Dear friends in Christ,
I have been asked several times why I chose to come and work in the Netherlands. That has always been a difficult question for me. This same is often addressed to the administrative board of Congregations that bring priests to the Netherlands. What are the conditions for bringing a person to work in the Dutch church? Do they choose to come on their own or are they sent by the authorities of their congregations? I have seen many priests struggle with this question. I understand the reason for the question. It seems that when someone has chosen a country for himself, it also means that they will give everything for the mission. But is that really the case? We have noticed over the years that those who choose a country for a particular vision are more likely to leave when that vision becomes unrealistic. So, our congregation, for instance, does not just accept people because they come forward and present themselves for a particular mission or country. There are also people who we would like to have, but who have other wishes. That is how it goes. I have always said that when someone accepts their vocation as a gift from God and opens themselves up to it, that is enough. Because then the chance to develop and adapt to reality is greater. We are human beings. And as human beings, we often want to plan everything in advance. And sometimes we even expect God to follow what is in our plan, claiming it to be His will. But the first reading and today’s Gospel teach us something else, namely that we must not set conditions for following God. Rather, we must always make the right choices and be resolute about them.
Today’s Gospel is actually the story of failed invitation to follow Jesus. Luke deliberately places this story in the context of Jesus going to Jerusalem. It reads, “when the days of his exaltation were about to be fulfilled, he resolutely accepted the journey to Jerusalem”, the city of his suffering and of his resurrection. With these three stories, Luke wants to make clear to us the very things that constitute obstacles to following Jesus.
The first man who offers himself to Jesus wants to follow him, “wherever you go”. Beautiful words, and he seems to be full of good intentions: an idealist who dreams of great things. But Jesus sees that his heart is still bound to a hundred things, and Jesus wants to make him aware of that. He used the analogy of animals to describe how following him demands total self-giving and exposure to dangers. Animals that find it hard to defend themselves have their lairs, in which they can crawl away and from which they do not like to emerge when in danger. Birds exposed to wind and weather have a warm nest that offers them security from storms and cold. Those who want to follow Jesus must not creep into their holes: they must dare to defy the dangers of our time – they must not hide when it comes to standing up for justice, for the poor, and for those who are overlooked (that is, the ‘marginalized’, the ‘unimportant’). You have to dare to be a Christian in all weathers, exposed to criticism and ridicule.
The second man wants to bury his father first, but Jesus seems to be ‘against’ it. It seems very unkind when Jesus says to the young man, “Let the dead bury their dead; you must go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Of course, Jesus does not forbid people to bury their dead. What He says is only a picture to teach us that we should not set conditions if we want to follow Him. We may not be aware of this, but we do it so often. Thoughts like ‘I have prayed so much, and still God does not listen to me.’ Or “I come to Mass every week, but I don’t get anything done. These are words and thoughts we are familiar with because they are so human. After all, conditions are very human standards in our relationships, in our work, and in our attitude toward our fellow human beings. When we do something, we want to get something in return: we know this as human beings. But God is not human.
The third man wants to follow Jesus, but asks: “Let me first say goodbye to my family and friends”. What he asks seems reasonable, but in essence, he cannot renounce his past. To him Jesus says: “He who leaves the hand to the plough and looks back is unfit for the Kingdom of God.” In this way, Jesus wants to make it clear that the Kingdom of God requires all attention. There is no point in looking back on what you must leave behind: you must have the courage to try new things, and you must believe and trust that God has the future in his hands.
These radical words of Jesus about following come across as harsh. Jesus does not want to scare us by making these demands, but He does want to create clarity. He does not want to break the ties with our family here either, but He does want to give us the right value. He wants us to understand that there is nothing more important than the Kingdom of God. Important things demand full attention. Likewise, following Jesus demands a strong sense of resoluteness. When Jesus took the path to Jerusalem, he knew it was a dangerous route, he knew that a painful death awaited him there. But he was resolute. Being resolute is very important because we are mostly confronted with all sorts of options in life.
There is a story of two men who happened to make big money many years ago. One of them built a big mansion with his money, and the other invested his money in starting a bank. After twenty years, the man that built the big mansion could not even maintain the mansion again due to the size and lack of money. The man that started a bank has now thousands of branches all over the country, he has equally hundreds of mansions all over the place. Two of them had the same amount of money, what differentiated them was the choices they made. The man who built the mansion with his money might have thought of investing it in some business but might have lacked the resoluteness to follow up on that, he might have fallen for what was more appealing at that time, what was more comfortable to do. The route which Jesus took was not appealing, Peter had tried to even talk him out of it but he rebuked Peter (Matthew 1623).
We see this sense of resoluteness in the first reading. Elisha received the call of Prophecy when Elijah threw his mantle upon him. He immediately abandoned his farming life, he even slaughtered the two oxen that were his major tools in the farming business, he used the ploughs as firewood for cooking them and made a farewell feast for his men. This way, he demonstrated his resoluteness to follow his new call without looking back. He destroyed everything that would make him look back. There is a story of a war leader who faced a larger army more numerous than his men. When he came down with his men from their boat to face the numerous enemies, the war leader saw how many their enemies were and how frightened his men already looked on seeing the enemies, he gave an order that their boats should be set on fire. His men were surprised and wondered what he was up to. After the boats were destroyed, he told his men, ‘we have only one option, we either defeat the enemies or we all perish, there is no boat for escape or retreat.’ His men knowing they had only one option fought with all their strength and conquered the numerous enemies.
In the second reading, St. Paul warned about self-indulgence which can become an obstacle to our goals in life. Self-indulgence comes from a lack of resoluteness, it makes us become negligent, complacent, weak, indecisive, and distracted. St. Paul warned us not to allow the life of liberty we received to lead us to self-indulgence but to be careful and guided by the Spirit. It is always very easy to get complacent when things are moving fine, when we have some boats for escape or retreat, we might find it difficult to give the battle of life all the force and resoluteness it requires. Most times, people get serious when they have no other choice than to fight. This is why people can do unbelievable things when they face dangers or threats, but we do not need to wait to be confronted by dangers or threats before we get resolute with the important things of life.
Like Elisha and the people Jesus called, we all have been called for a purpose in life. Our calls might not be as clear as that of Elisha or the people Jesus called. It could be as simple as being a baptized Christian. The truth is that we are purposeful beings, there is always a desire within us to be something and to achieve something worthwhile with our lives. However, these dreams and desires are often buried through self-doubt, indecision, fear, comfort, narrow-mindedness, etc. Sometimes, we get comfortable or satisfied with what we have achieved or feel that our highest aspirations are not achievable. The call to follow Jesus does not really have to be something extraordinary like Saul who encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus. It could be as simple as the word of God we hear, the simple desires inside us to do something good and great. If we give accent to these calls as simple as they are, they will become something great through our commitment and persistence. Commitment is required for us to start off something, and persistence is required to see us through to the end, both commitment and persistence require consistent resoluteness.
Today’s readings remind us that being a Christian involves making the right choices and being resolute about them. An indecisive person cannot achieve anything of great worth. Since the Kingdom of God is the most important of all things, let us pray for the grace to remain focused on it. As Jesus admonished, “seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). The call is the call to be part of that Kingdom.