Twenty Third Sunday of the Year (Year C)

Twenty Third Sunday of the Year September 04, 2022

Wisdom 9:13-18; Philemon 9b, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33

(image courtesy: Google)

It was September 8, 2001, in the women’s finals of the US Open tennis tournament in Flushing, New York. For the first time in the history of the tournament, the world watched a sportive and emotional roller-coaster as two sisters who love themselves so much that they live in the same house and share the same hotel room fought each other. Could you imagine what was going on in the minds of Venus and Serena Williams as they battled and slugged it out against each other, suspending their love for each other and at least temporarily “hating” each other? They had to “hate” each other because the one was standing in the way of the other becoming the world champion. The one was an obstacle to the realisation of the other’s dream to wear the world crown. And so they had to hate and fight each other.

Venus won. But she did not do her usual victory leap and celebratory display. Instead she ran to the net, put an arm around her defeated junior sister’s shoulder and said, “I love you.” Why did she say that? Because the game is over now and her sister is no longer an obstacle in the way of her victory. She said, in other words, “I am sorry, but I had to do it: I had to fight you so hard, I had to “hate” you because you were standing in my way. But I still love you.” That was a rare example of hating those we love, and from it we can learn much about the injunction to “hate” our loved ones.

In simple terms, Venus loves Serena, except when Serena becomes an obstacle that could prevent her from realising her ambition to win the crown. Similarly we are lo love our parents and siblings and spouses, and indeed everyone else, except when they become obstacles in our bid to win the crown of eternal life. The crown of heavenly glory that the Father gives us is worth much more than the ephemeral crown that Venus won on that day. So we should be prepared to wage an uncompromising war to see that no person or thing stands in our way to make us lose the crown. Possessions constitute a formidable obstacle in many people’s bid for the crown of salvation. That is why Jesus concludes today’s gospel with these words: “So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions” (v. 33).

The message from today's Gospel is "the cost of being a disciple." Jesus is on the road, going from village to village to proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God. Here he speaks of true discipleship.  A disciple is one who is learning or has learned from a master or teacher or one who follows the teachings prescribed by a master or teacher.  The demands of discipleship require a total dedication on the part of a Christian. For some time now, large crowds had been travelling with Jesus. The time had now arrived for Jesus to sift those who were truly committed from those who were not. To make the choice and to discern, Jesus presents two parables. In the first parable, Jesus narrated that before someone builds a tower, he sits down and calculates the cost. If he does not have enough wealth to finish the tower, in all wisdom, he does not begin the project. Otherwise, he would be a laughing stock. In the second parable, Jesus said that a king going to war against forces that are far more superior to his, must carefully calculate the cost and consider his chances of winning the battle. So it is with Christian discipleship.

Luke in the Gospel clearly tells us that the following of Jesus in the most radical terms would mean to find him in all persons. In following Jesus, we have to go with him the whole way and have to accept totally his way of seeing life and then putting that into practice in the way we live. A Christian is someone who desires, at any cost, the Glory of God and his own happiness in the Heart of Christ Jesus.

What is then true discipleship according to Jesus? The essential condition for true discipleship demanded by Jesus was and still is total dedication, a total commitment of the self to him.  It is a complete surrender to the call of the master. Therefore, Jesus says that whoever is not with him is against him. To be a true disciple one must live the Christian life every day and the whole day. To be a disciple and follow Jesus is a life journey. It involves a total involvement in the causes for him. This is what Jesus wants to make us understand through the examples or parables he tells us today.

In the Gospel, Jesus makes other conditions to follow him, namely, self-control and detachment. We have yet another phrase here, namely, "hating our own life". Jesus wants our lives to be lived in total truth and love. Our lives are not to be determined and manipulated by attachments, desires, ambitions, or fears and anxieties which can become very much part of us. We are to live in total freedom. To be a true follower of Jesus a person must be ready to sacrifice even what is nearest and dearest to him if it comes between him and Christ.

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Happy Sunday