23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, C September 4, 2022
Fr. Alexander Albert St. John the Evangelist, Jeanerette
To choose to be where you are for the sake of love. That’s the takeaway from last week. Instead of trying to make the most money or find the most convenience, we ought to look for those places and opportunities to put ourselves in humble service to others. God himself did this, going so far as to serve us not only by preaching and teaching, by healing the sick and washing the feet of his disciples, but by sacrificing his body in love and even becoming food for us.
Now we hear this same call framed another way: the cost of discipleship. Why should we be willing to pass up worldly success for the sake of serving this or that community, meeting this or that need for other people? Because we are meant to be disciples of Jesus Christ, students who follow him. Christ himself makes it clear: this will cost us.
No one going to the first day of a college class expects the professor to say “to pass my class, you need to hate your father, mother, wife, and children.” But Jesus is no ordinary teacher. Indeed, there’s really only one justification for such a demand. There is only one person who has the right to demand we love him more than our own parents, siblings, or spouse: God Himself.
Jesus, God-made-man, therefore is justified in expecting everything from us and does not hide it. He also does not bully us into giving it to him. He doesn’t lean in with lightning flashing around his head and shout “obey me!” No, he rather calmly says “if you want in, this is what it’s going to take, so get ready.” There’s a simple reason for this: God wants love, and love that is forced isn’t worth very much.
We see this in St. Paul’s letter in the second reading. A runaway slave has come to him, so he’s writing to the slave’s owner, Philemon, about him. St. Paul evangelized and baptized Philemon. St. Paul is also one of the highest ranking members of the entire Church. But Paul does not say “I command you to release this slave.” He even says elsewhere that he could command him, so why doesn’t he? “So that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.” This is precisely the difference between slavery and discipleship. There’s an irony here: by encouraging instead of commanding, Paul is actually helping the slave-owner to become free. He is aiming at conversion rather than coercion.
This is the heart of the Catholic faith, not the successful completion of specific tasks, but the process of becoming the kind of person who wants to do what is right. Why? Because it is the way to freedom, to joy, to live out a response to the love they’ve experienced in Jesus Christ. These tasks, this response is hard when done freely. It becomes impossible if done without this love at its heart. That is, of course, why we know Jesus doesn’t want us to literally hate our family. It is a hyperbole, an exaggeration meant to get our attention, to make a point, and to make it stick in our memory. The point is that we should put discipleship to Jesus above even our family and friends. We can love, we should love them, but we must not love them more then Jesus and the way of life to which he calls us.
How do we keep that from happening, then? As our first reading puts it, “the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.” We seek wealth so we can address our concerns about food and shelter and basic survival. Our bodies and brains are chemically programmed to form attachments to other people. How then do we come to “hate” them and to renounce all our possessions? Reflection, Sanctification, and Almsgiving.
Reflection: It starts with taking Jesus at his word right here. Calculate the cost. We should spend time evaluating this question: am I willing to give everything to be a disciple of Jesus? You can go through a checklist – mental or literal – of whatever is most important to you and ask yourself for each one: do I love this thing or person more than God? Am I willing to lose this person/thing for the sake of God? If I am not, do I want to change that? Do I want to start wanting that?
Sanctification: We should then sanctify each of those relationships and possessions. The first reading asks, “Who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high?” If we are to overcome worldly ways of thinking and attachment, we need the Holy Spirit. Invite the Holy Spirit into each relationship. This begins with simple, direct prayer “God, I invite you into this part of my life” and carries through with more active steps. That is doing things like starting to pray with other people in your life. Do you pray with your spouse, children, or close friends in a personal way? Work towards that. It can also be taking small steps to evangelize others, asking them gentle, nudging questions about faith and God. Inviting others to share where they are is often a good way to get that conversation started.
Invite the Holy Spirit also into your career, your investments, your way of treating wealth. Pray before and after work. Today’s psalm models this: “prosper the work of our hands.” Turn to the blessings of the Church for major moments, like our blessing of the crops this Friday and the quarterly ember days offered by the Church.
Almsgiving: As always, one of the best ways to grow in love of God and to detach from this world is to give things away to those in need, especially when it hurts a little, when it stretches you a little. Money, time, labor. For relationships, you can make an internal act of prayer: “I give you this person and relationship, Lord.” Parents, God gave you your children so you can freely offer them back, much like Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon so that he could freely send him back to Paul. Pray, “Lord, I thank you for my children. Help me to lead them back to you, to let them follow you wherever you lead them, even if it means never seeing them again.” Dear young people, follow him! And if the Lord calls you to make the radical, literal choice to leave family or possessions to serve the Church, take him seriously.
Reflect, Sanctify, and Give so that you can truly be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Is it hard? Yes. Is it frightening? Yes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. Why? Because you’re not alone. When you really follow him, you’ll find that your greatest possession and your closest companion is love Himself.