Cycle C 23rd Sunday in the Ordinary Time

Wis 9:13-18; Phlm 9-10,12-17; Lk 14:25-33

The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island. He prayed earnestly to rescue him, and every day he scanned the horizon for help, but no one seemed forthcoming. Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect

him from the elements and in which to store his few possessions.
 
One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, the smoke rolling up to the sky. The worst had happened; everything was lost. He was stunned with grief and anger. “God, how could you do this to me!” he cried. Early the next day, however, he was awakened by the sound of a ship that was approaching the island. It had come to rescue him.
 
The weary man asked his rescuers: “How did you know I was here?”
They replied: “We saw your smoke signal.”
 
God is at work in our lives, even in the midst of pain and suffering. But we fail to see the invisible hand of God
 
“What man can know the intentions of God?
Who can define the will of the Lord?”

This is the message of the first reading, taken from the Book of Wisdom. We, as human beings are very limited in our reasoning, because we lack Divine knowledge and understanding. We are limited in our ability to do things and know the Will of God. The reason that we fail to understand the designs of God is that our earthbound body weighs down the heavenward aspirations.

We heard in the first reading,
“A perishable body presses down the soul,
and this tent of clay weighs down the teeming mind.”
 
It is easy to understand the message of Jesus in the light of this.
“Anyone who comes to me without hating his father, mother,
Wife, children, brothers, sisters,
Yes, his own life too,
He cannot be my disciple.” (Lk 14:26)
 
“No one who does not carry his cross and come after me can be my disciple.”(Lk 14:33)
 
In these passages, Jesus seems to demand from his disciples that they give up what man holds most precious in life:
 
Humanly speaking, there is nothing more precious than one’s own life; when life is lost, everything is lost with it. A few days back, in Mumbai International Airport, there was an announcement in one of the Aircrafts of Jet Airways, urging the passengers to escape since fire was detected in the Aircraft. Some people managed to overtake others and jumped through the emergency exit, without waiting for the ladder to arrive. The immediate urge of all was to save their lives. Probably no one thought about saving their neighbour first. Soon it was announced that the panic was created due to a false alarm. The ultimate result was, those who tried to save their lives, hurt themselves, and others were safe. As the books of wisdom say, God’s ways are different. “One who tries to save his life loses it, and one who loses it for the sake of Jesus saves it. We still remember and revere the great martyrs, because by laying down their lives they earned eternal glory and honour.

Today this passage urges us, too, to give up excessive love for the self, be ready to accept little sacrifices and be concerned with the needs of our brothers around us.
 
Next to life, comes one’s own family: parents, children, husband, wife, brothers, sisters and relatives. We are ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of the family. A father works tirelessly for hours, to earn enough to send his child to a good school, to provide for him and to make him comfortable. A mother spends hours doing household work without knowing what rest is. It is just to make her family happy. It is a natural instinct to dedicate one’s life for the family. And Jesus says that his disciples should be able to renounce the family, for the same of the kingdom of God. St Peter had a family, when Jesus called him, but that did not stop him from following Jesus, accepting his call. In our frantic chase to earn and make our families comfortable we have set to apart some time for the spiritual growth too.
 
After our family, come our possessions. It is painful to be detached. All the troubles and unrest in the world are caused by human greed. Greed and desire to possess material things take man away from God. He loses his orientation. As frail human beings we are slow to realize this fact. The writer of the Book of wisdom asserts that you cannot understand it, unless God grants His wisdom and sends the Holy Spirit from above.

St Francis of Assisi knew well about the futility of material possessions. So he admonished his brethren to embrace poverty.
 

In today’s Gospel, Jesus stresses the point that to be his disciple is a serious matter. It requires great determination and commitment.

Satish