23rd Sunday of Ordinary Time - 2010
Cycle C
Wisdom 9:13-18b
Who can know God's counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.
Second ReadingPhilemon 9-10, 12-17
I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment; I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
Gospel Cycle CLuke 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."
My sisters and brothers in Christ,
Wisdom for our Jewish ancestors in the faith was knowledge of how to live well in any situation. Wisdom is much more practical knowledge than theoretical knowledge. You and I must know the practical realities of living well and not just be able to think of them. Only God can give us practical advice about how to live in this world with His blessings in such a way that we shall come joyfully into the world after this one.
The second reading shows us some practical wisdom on the part of Saint Paul. A runaway slave has come to him and now Saint Paul is sending him back to his owner, who is a Christian, asking the owner to reflect on the reality of slavery. Saint Paul does ask for freedom, but simply to treat the slave as if he were Saint Paul himself, which would be to treat him as a Roman citizen!
In the Gospel we hear Jesus talking about the practical wisdom that each of us needs to follow him. Are we willing to give up everything? Can we make Jesus and the Kingdom the center of our lives? This is just another expression of the wisdom that we find throughout the Gospels. Where our heart is, there is our treasure. Sometimes we humans prefer pleasure to following the Lord. Sometimes we prefer money. Sometimes we prefer power. These are the great temptations. Family can fit into all three of these categories but can also fall outside of them.
Jesus invites us to look carefully at our personal lives today. Where is my heart? Where is my treasure? What are the values and the realities that really guide and direct my life, not just those that I talk about?
Sometimes we choose to follow the Lord even knowing that He is not yet our only goal, but hoping that we can win the battle. This is the same kind of image that Jesus puts in front of us today: if we have to fight, what are our resources? The only resource that can win the battle is complete trust in God, in Jesus our Lord and in the Holy Spirit.
As happens so often in our lives, we are invited to look at life as a choice between good and evil; a choice between following the Lord or following other values; a choice to live or to die.
What will I choose today? I hope to choose the Lord, goodness and life! Even if I fail over and over, I can continue to choose Jesus, life and goodness--and most of all I can trust that the Lord will help me. Let us pray for one another.