13th Sunday, Year C, 2019

As you participate in this Eucharistic Celebration, may you be granted the grace of true freedom and genuine love that will enable you commit yourself wholeheartedly to following Christ as your first priority without counting the cost you have to pay for doing so. Happy Sunday +John I. Okoye

DOCTRINE AND FAITH
(1 Kings 19,16b.19-21;  Galatians 5,1.13-18; Luke 9,51-62: 13th Sunday, Year C, 2019)

The narrative of the first reading is an illustration of prophetic succession in ancient Israel. The spoken word was not the only way prophecy was handed on; certain symbolic action also carried prophetic meaning. The symbolic act by Elijah of throwing his cloak over Elisha is one such example. Elisha is called while he is ploughing a field, not unlike Saul, Israel's first king (cf. 1 Sam 11,5). And as soon as he was called, the narrative holds that Elisha immediately left his ploughing and eagerly ran after the prophet. He had no second thoughts about following his call. He only asked leave to say farewell to his parents. Kinship ties are very important in traditional societies like that of ancient Israel. To say good-bye is more of emotional attachment than kinship responsibilities. It is important to note that both father and mother are mentioned. This account describes the conflict that exists between two fundamental responsibilities: fidelity to the call from God and that of one's primary family obligations. Elijah does not grant Elisha permission to leave, but he does respond. The implications are demanding. Elisha has been commissioned by God to be a prophet, and it is up to him to decide whether he can make the radical break from the past that this commission requires or not. His response is wholehearted. His slaughter of the oxen and his destruction of the ploughing equipment were symbolic acts of severing his ties with his past. He was now totally committed to the ministry of the people. He demonstrates this by feeding them. The narrative ends with Elisha in a subservient position. Though he had been commissioned as Elijah's successor, he would first minister to him as attendant. It would seem that his time of independent prophetic activity had not yet come. 

The second reading, Galatians 5,1.13-18, is a discourse on the nature of Christian freedom. Paul, in this passage does not merely proclaim Christian freedom, he also states that Christians have been freed for the sake of freedom itself. In other words, Christ did not free them from one form of bondage only to have them submit themselves to another. They are told to stand fast in their freedom and not to allow themselves to be bound again. The Christians are already free, but they are not yet totally free. It is not merely that they could lose their freedom, though this is clearly a possibility, rather, the reason they might lose it is that, though freed by Christ, they are not yet completely free within themselves. They still retain habits of mind and heart, addictions of all kinds, even after they are renounced. Freedom itself is a frightening thing because it requires the willing renunciation of whatever compensations people have cultivated in order to cope with those habits that enslave them. Paul realised this, so he exhorts the Galatians to stand fast in their freedom. Having warned the Galatians against reverting to some form of slavery after being set free by Christ, Paul next addresses the opposite inclination. He insists that the freedom to which the Galatians have been called is not an invitation to license. It is not an opportunity for throwing off all moral restraint and indulging in some form of libertinism. Though no longer under the bondage of the law, they are not free to live lawless lives. In fact, they are expected to love their neighbours as themselves (cf. Lev 19,18). Though not slaves of the law, they should be servants of one another in love. In this way, though they may not accomplish all that the law requires, they will have fulfilled all that the law intends. Paul contrasts life lived in the Spirit with life lived in the flesh. Jewish anthropology of the day maintained that the inclination toward good, which resided in the spirit, and the inclination toward evil, which resided in the flesh, were in constant contention within the human being. It is this inner struggle Paul has in mind. He insists that if, through a false sense of freedom, the Galatians give in to the inclinations of the flesh, they will eventually destroy one another. However, if they serve one another in love, they will live lives of genuine freedom guided by the Spirit of God. 

In the gospel pericope, Luke 9,51-62, when the Samaritans refused to welcome Jesus and his company, James and John suggested that Jesus call down fire from heaven, just as Elijah had done when the enemies of Israel approached the prophet (cf 2 Kgs 1,10). The antagonism the Samaritans felt toward the Jews can be traced back to the return of the Jews from the exile in Babylon (ca. 536 B.C.). Because some of the people in the district of Samaria had remained in the land during the period of exile and had intermarried with foreigners who lived in the vicinity, the returning Jews considered them social and religious half-breeds and, consequently, culticly unclean. For this reason they were prevented from helping with the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem. In reaction to this, the Samaritans built their own temple. Although the Jews later destroyed it, the Samaritans continued to worship God on Mount Gerizim, an action the Jews considered illegitimate. This explains why the Samaritans refused to show hospitality to Jews who travelled through Samaria on their way to worship in Jerusalem. As we go further in today’s gospel, we see someone step forward and offer to follow Jesus, and later two others are called by Jesus to be disciples. The attitude of these three toward discipleship and Jesus' response to them is revealing. The first enthusiastically offers commitment, the other two wish to postpone joining Jesus until they have put their immediate affairs in order. In each instance Jesus emphasises the demands that discipleship will exact. With the first, Jesus points to the price the commitment will require. A follower of Jesus must be willing to relinquish all. The example given to illustrate the degree of surrender required is the willingness to forgo the sense of belonging somewhere. Jesus underscores the same demand when responding to the other two individuals. To one he insists that even religious ceremonial customs must be set aside if need be when commitment to Jesus is at stake. With the other he maintains that not even family ties can take precedence over discipleship. The advice to the first person seems to be contradicted by the advice given the other two. However, this contradiction is only apparent. Discipleship does require wholehearted commitment to Jesus, but this commitment must be embraced realistically. While followers should be enthusiastic in their dedication, they should also be prepared to pay the price of wholehearted commitment. 

The readings of today challenge us to examine the quality of our response to the call of discipleship to the Lord Jesus Christ. Our response should be a commitment that is wholehearted. For there is no part-time discipleship. Our commitment must be wholehearted and complete. We must have a willing attitude that frees us interiorly from all other concerns, so we might be able to follow Christ regardless of our state in life or our occupation. This attitude of commitment comes not merely from our own generosity of heart but also from our having been transformed into Christ through faith and baptism. With the psalmist we cling to God, who is our allotted portion and our cup. Such wholehearted commitment is an interior reality, not an exterior demonstration. It is not for the few; it is required of all. The readings for this Sunday also invite us to meditate on another aspect of discipleship, the cost of discipleship, on the conflicts that face us when our various allegiances seem to clash. We may have family responsibilities. There are children to raise, elderly parents or infirm relatives to care for. What does discipleship require of us? We must earn a living. Are we expected to leave our employment to follow Jesus? And if so, what then will we do? All disciples must face the interior struggle caused by the conflict of legitimate responsibility. There is no other way to navigate through the interior dilemma other than heeding the exhortation to love one’s neighbour, love that is based on the true concept of freedom, as expounded by Paul in the second reading. The freedom of which Paul speaks is neither license nor half-hearted commitment. It is the freedom that comes with genuine love. If out of love we can negotiate successfully these conflicts caused by competing responsibilities without compromising our total commitment to Christ, we will find a new kind of freedom. This is the freedom that enables us to be faithful to both sets of responsibilities according to the proper priority. We will see that commitment to Christ is primary and the circumstances of our lives with the accompanying responsibilities set the parameters within which we live out our commitment. It is not in opposition with these responsibilities or despite them but by means of or through them that we live out our discipleship. May we, therefore, in today’s Eucharistic celebration, be granted the grace of true freedom and genuine love that will enable us commit ourselves wholeheartedly to following Christ as our first priority without counting the cost we have to pay for doing so.Happy Sunday +John I. Okoye.

(graphics  by chukwwubike)