Homily for 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time Year C

  A guard in charge of a lighthouse along a dangerous coast was given enough oil for one month and told to keep the light burning every night. One day a woman asked for oil so that her children could stay warm. Then a farmer came. His son needed oil for a lamp so he could read. Another needed some for an engine. The guard saw each as a worthy request and gave some oil to satisfy all. By the end of the month, the tank in the lighthouse was dry. That night the beacon was dark and three ships crashed on the rocks. More than one hundred lives were lost. The lighthouse attendant explained what he had done and why. But the prosecutor replied, “You were given only one task: to keep the light burning. Every other thing was secondary. You have no excuse.”

  Temptation is a choice between good and evil. But perhaps more insidious than temptation is conflict where one must choose between two good options. The lighthouse keeper in our story found himself in such a conflict situation. So also are the would-be disciples in today’s gospel story. In such cases the good easily becomes the enemy of the best One must then say no to a good thing in order to say yes to the one thing necessary. Today’s gospel is a sequence of four incidents and encounters with people who could have become followers of Jesus but who were held back by ulterior concerns and motives. Each encounter highlights a different concern.

  The first incident is the encounter between the messengers of Jesus and the Samaritan villagers. The concern that holds the Samaritans back from accepting and following Jesus is patriotism. Samaritans and Jews were bitter enemies. The Samaritan villagers had probably heard about Jesus and what he was doing and were interested. But as soon as they learnt that Jesus and his disciples were Jews and were heading for Jerusalem, their admiration turned into opposition. Patriotism and devotion to the national cause is, of course, a good thing. But when national interest becomes the spectacle through which one sees all reality, including spiritual and eternal reality, then one is in danger of losing perspective.

  The second incident involves a man who says to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus replies, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head” (Luke (9:57-58). Why did Jesus say that? Probably because he perceived that here was a man who valued financial independence and security. It is a good thing to have high economic goals so that one could provide adequately for oneself and for those under one’s care. Yet when this stands in the way of wholehearted following and service of God, then something is wrong.

  The third incident is that of the man who wanted first to go bury his father before following Jesus. Burying one’s parents is part of the command to “Honour your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). So this a man with high moral principles, a man who keeps the law and is highly concerned for his religious duties. Again this is a very good virtue. Yet Jesus is saying that we should not allow religious observance to immobilise us and keep us from following Christ who is always on the move into new territories and new challenges.

  Finally there is the man who wants to go and say farewell to his family before following Jesus. He wants to follow the example of Elisha (1^st reading) who bid his family farewell before becoming Elijah’s disciple. This man has high social and family values. One could only wish that all men could be this sensitive to let their families know their whereabouts at all times! Yet before the urgent call of the kingdom of God, social and family concerns take a back seat. “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

  These stories show that to follow Christ is to follow him unconditionally. Can you complete the sentence: “I will follow Christ on the condition that …” If you can complete the sentence then you are in the same situation as any of these well-meaning but mistaken disciples. Jesus will not accept a second place in our lives. He will be first or nothing. It is all for Jesus or nothing at all.

  One of the themes of the readings today, at least the first reading and the Gospel are about the call of God.  God calls us to do things, to embrace a particular life, and it may not be in quite the way we expect it to be or even want it to be.

  Our first reading today begins with God’s selection of a young man named Elisha to be the successor of the very famous prophet Elijah. God speaks to Elijah and tells him to go find a young farmer named Elisha and anoint him as a prophet and successor. Elisha acts somewhat strangely by our standards and simply finds the boy in a field and throws a cloak over him and walks away. For whatever reason Elisha seems to know what Elijah and God are asking him, so he asks if he can say goodbye to his parents, and as a symbol of leaving everything behind, he kills all his oxen and gives them as food.  He has nothing left of his own, so he goes and follows Elijah as his servant.  And he stays his servant and  lives in Elijah’s shadow for eight years. Eventually he does become a successor and a prophet of Israel, but he always remains in the shadow of Elijah who was one of the most famous of Israel’s prophets.

  Elisha is noted for hearing the call of God and following it without question. He had been a farmer, but lowered himself to a servant in the process. He left his parents and his life to do God’s will.

  This theme is picked up in the Gospel today as well. We see two types of followers of Jesus, those who have been called and those who ask to be called, but may not be. An unnamed person says to Jesus that he will follow Jesus wherever he goes. Jesus doesn’t say ‘Thank you’ or ‘Oh, how nice of you!’ but simply indicates that he has no home base and he travels constantly.  We don’t really know whether Jesus accepts this offer or not, or whether the young man is willing to leave everything and just travel.

  Another man, again unnamed, is called by Jesus, however. Jesus asks him to follow him. Apparently his father has just died, and he tells Jesus that he will follow him but, he needs to go and bury his father.  This is a law and obligation of a son. But Jesus says no, and in a very famous statement says: let the dead bury the dead. As cold a statement as this seems to be, we need to remember that in Jewish custom and law a dead person had to be buried within 24 hours and mourned for seven days. The man seems to be lying or making an excuse and Jesus has picked up on it. Another theory might be that the man wants to go back because he wants to claim his inheritance so he can then live securely.  Jesus may know this and be telling him that he must leave all those ‘dead things’ of this life behind him in order to follow him to a new life. A third interpretation might be that Jesus wants the man to realize that he should be spending his time on those people who are living rather than on the dead. Christian life is a life of service to others who are living.

  Now a third man is asked by Jesus to follow him. This again unnamed third man agrees to it, but wants, like Elisha, to go back and say goodbye to his parents. Unlike Elijah, who agreed to let Elisha do this, Jesus does not want his followers to look behind, but only ahead. “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”  Again, a hard, cold saying. But what it means is that the true follower of Christ is one who trusts in Jesus completely and relies on him. Few of us can appreciate the farming imagery used here, but we have planted gardens. If you plant seeds and keep looking behind to see if they have taken, if they are in straight rows, if you have missed a spot, then you are spending too much time in the past and not living in the present. Jesus wants us to be with him in the moment and live in full awareness of the life we have been given.

  How do we follow Jesus? Do we use Love as the yardstick which measures all our actions? Do we live in the present with Jesus and appreciate the moment?

  The second theme of the readings is Jesus’ reaction to the Apostles who certainly don’t act out of love in this section.  In fact, there is no love for the Samaritans at all. In the second reading Paul has stated: “For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  The Apostles sure haven’t picked up that message yet.

  Some background here is necessary.  The Samaritans had been treated as enemies of the Judeans for centuries, even though they both believed in the same God.  I am reminded about the way we used to think of Protestants when I was a child, or the way some Protestant sects are taught to think about Catholics. I remember we were told we shouldn’t even walk by the Protestant school but should take another route!  By the first century B.C., however, this hatred of Samaritans and Judeans reached a peak because the Samaritans enjoyed more royal favor with the Romans. Some Samaritans even murdered a group of Judean pilgrims going to Jerusalem.

  So, when the Apostles spoke so emotionally about what should happen to Samaritans, it was a general feeling of the time amongst Judeans. Luke’s Gospel goes out of its way many times to change the image of a Samaritan, however, and that begins here.  Jesus rebukes the Apostles for their ‘eye for an eye’ type logic.  Later, Luke will have Jesus tell the story of the Good Samaritan, and the one Samaritan leper who comes back to thank Jesus. Luke takes Jesus’ rebuke seriously in his Gospel and tries to change minds about Samaritans.

  For us today, there is also a lesson here.  How should we treat people of other faiths or cultures, or people who have hurt us, or people we are afraid of. Should we allow division because of tradition or should we try to find ways to understand and empathize with these people.  We are people who are called, but are there people who are called to a different way? Is there only one way to follow Christ? We are called today to consider this in our own lives and battle against our own prejudices and our own fears, and to put into practice Jesus’ law of love that Paul tells us of today.

  There is a time for everything in our life. Many an elderly patient in hospital would say to me, 'the time is getting closer, Father.'

   Jesus had a strong awareness of this time that lay in his future; it seemed to animate him, to spur him on. It was from this awareness that all his activity took its urgency. He hastened to complete his work before this time came; he feared it and longed for it. A time of suffering, sorrow, death - the cross. Now he could sense it was drawing near and he resolutely goes forward to meet it: Now the time has come.

   Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem ...

   lf the time of his suffering and death was closer, Jerusalem, the place, was also closer. This was the place where he was to fulfil his destiny. Luke's gospel is dominated and held together by this long journey Jesus is making to the place of his suffering and death - Jerusalem.
Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem ...

   He always 'took the road' that led to Jerusalem. Roads are important, aren't they? They can lead us to our destination or they can take us away from it. We've all had the experience of discovering that we've been on the wrong road, that we were not heading in the right direction. Jesus never took a wrong road. His road map was the will of his Father and he followed it faultlessly.

   Jesus resolutely took the road for Jerusalem.

   He had to be resolute because along the way there were so many trying to sidetrack him, stop him, tempt him to diverge. Herod wanted to kill him before he could begin his joumey; Satan wanted to tempt him to walk other roads; Peter wanted him to go only halfway.

   We could spend some time applying this thought to our modern world and to our own personal life. Today, if the Pope and the teaching of the Catholic Church can be believed, the world is walking the wrong road, a road leading to catastrophe and death for the world. One has only to read the last few Encyclicals from Rome to see this. Jesus is the road we walk and the destination we must reach. Only the Church can still guide us safely along this road. No one else is to be trusted because only the Church speaks with the voice of Jesus.

   Well, along the road, along his road, Jesus meets three would-be followers.

   The first is told to have no illusions. The call to serve never ends. There never will be a time when one has the right to say 'I've done my bit, I'm going home now. Let the younger ones do it.' Jesus has no home, or rather, his home is the road.

   The second wants to follow but do something else first. If the kingdom is not first then one has not chosen the kingdom. Jesus gives a striking example. What could be more sacred than burying the dead? The disciples' task is bringing new life. Jesus does not bury the dead, he raises to life.

   The third would-be follower wants first to say goodbye to his family and friends. But disciples do not say goodbye to people. On the contrary, they have to be very close to them. A disciple does not chose between a relationship with God or a relationship with others. God is the one who gives our relationships with others depth and meaning so that we turn every stranger into a friend like the good Samaritan.

   These may seem heavy demands but that is not so. Jesus does not demand that we follow, he invites. He invites and offers us the path of life. At the same time he makes it clear what we will encounter as we walk the path of life. He will be with us. We will learn how to love and serve. We will discover our true selves. We will set others free. We will discover eternal life in the kingdom which is our destination.

  By Rt. Rev. Bishop Kasomo Daniel. PhD.D.Sc.

  The Bishop of the Society of St. Peter and Paul (SSPP).