"Jesus firmly resolved to proceed toward
Jerusalem" Luke 9
A Homily for the 13th Suday of Ordinary Time
(C)
Mark Payne, OSB
Jesus certainly traveled many times to
Jerusalem during his life. We know about his Presentation in the
Temple as an infant. We remember the time Jesus was accidently
left behind in Jerusalem when his parents started for home
without him. These trips and the many that followed were
certainly happy ones for Jesus. Even today, trips to Jerusalem
are high points in the life of many Jewish and Christian
families. But today there is a somber tone to the Gospel as Jesus
starts out on yet another journey to Jerusalem. St. Luke tells us
that Jesus was "resolutely determined" to go to
Jerusalem. Something was different, very different about this
trip to Jerusalem; a trip that we now know would be Jesus' last.
But the Christian life, we say, is supposed to
be joyful and peaceful: giving and receiving the good things of
God and sharing them with other people. Growing ever closer to
God and to God's people, a Christian is drawn to perform good
works and is repelled by even the thought of hurting someone. If
this trip to Jerusalem were God's Will and if it was going to
bring us God's forgiveness and fulfill our yearning for heaven,
why was Jesus so very grim when he set out for Jerusalem?
Yes, most of us have lived long enough to know
that our surface feelings can be very different from our inner
convictions. Sometimes we do have to force ourselves to do what
is right. It can be hard, painful, and sometimes even repugnant
to us. Doing good, avoiding evil, praising God - these are not
always what we feel like doing when the time comes for us to act,
even for good Christians who have been following the Lord for a
long time.
A young friend of mine, a graduate of Notre
Dame and of St. Benedict's, and a father of three boys has a
rule. If you find yourself leaning towards the easy way of doing
something then take another minute. Sometimes the easy way really
is best but at least be a little suspicious of choosing the easy
road.
We heard in the Book of Kings today that when
he was invited to join the fellowship of prophets, Elisha
carefully destroyed or distributed everything he had, everything
he used to make his living and to support his parents. Elijah was
determined, as was Jesus in the Gospel today, that there would be
no turning back on his decision to give his life, his energy, his
heart . . . to God and to God's people, come what may.
Sometimes we think that it is primarily priests
and members of official religious orders who are supposed to
follow the example of Biblical characters and to serve God
singleheartedly. St. Paul, however, corrects this narrow view of
Christian perfection.
Brothers and sisters, Paul writes to us today,
you are all called, to be free of slavery and to serve one
another in love. For Paul, slavery is any attachment to
selfishness, laziness, greed, or any impulse that is less noble
than praising God and serving God's children. It's a war, as Paul
describes the Christian life, and in a war we do have to take
sides. We have to sacrifice our favorite attachments. We have to
devote ourselves wholheartedly to the cause.
"Follow me." So Jesus challenges
everyone he meets on this final journey to Jerusalem and that
includes you and me. Follow me - no one and nothing else. The
trip to Jerusalem is the same for all of us. We travel different
roads to be sure. We encounter different obstacles and different
distractions and we suffer different misadventures along the way
to God in Jerusalem. But Jesus is resolutely determined to save
us from saddness, from despair, from alientation, and from guilt.
Let us be as resolutely determined to accept this gift of God as
God is resolutely determined to give us this most wonderful gift
of himself.