Gospel Lk 9:51-62
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village. As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus answered him, “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” And to another he said, “Follow me.” But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” And another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Homily
I remember, one day after hearing a young man speak about social justice issues, encouraging him to give some time to an NGO which works with children in a depressed area of a certain city. He seemed all excited about the possibilities but he never made good on his promises. There was always an excuse. If it was not his work load, it was family commitments. There was always an obstacle. I soon understood that this young man was in fact what so many of us are; armchair revolutionaries. Armchair revolutionaries never leave their armchairs because of their love of comfort. Comfort is extremely seductive and once we fall into her clutches it is very difficult to get out of them.
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I remember speaking to one of the founders of a teachers union and he described for me how crazy his timetable had become, and how there was no predictability in his life. He went where ever there was a need to go to promote the union. Causes become bigger than the individual and at times are hard taskmasters. We go where the cause beckons, and the demands of the cause become greater than the normal responsibilities of life. Causes are only brought to successful conclusions when we are resolute in fulfilling their demands.
Not all of us may have causes which demand so much of our time and energy but it must be remembered that life without a cause is simply existence not life. It is having a cause that defeats boredom and brings creativity to life.
Our Gospel passage this weekend reminds us of what belonging to a cause really means and it invites us to join the cause of the Kingdom of God. The gospel reminds us that becoming part of a cause is serious business. It demands resoluteness. We go resolutely wherever it calls, so foxes have holes and birds have nests but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. It demands that nothing take preference over it, not even burying the dead, not even saying goodbye to family and friends.
The cause of the kingdom, the creating of a world of Justice and Peace is in fact the cause for all Christians. All other causes get their validity from their relationship to that overarching cause, the creating of a world of Justice and Peace, the creating of the Kingdom. And so the Gospel questions us. What is your cause? What is it for which you are willing to live and if necessary give your life? For Nelson Mandela it was the dream of South Africa freed from discrimination.
For Martin Luther King, it was the dream of brotherhood among blacks and whites in North America. For Mons. Romero, it was an El Salvador freed of oppression. For our parents it was the dream of children better educated than they were. What is it for you? What is it for me?
Today we thank God for these examples and we ask God for the wisdom to recognize that the fate of our world, our country, our neighborhoods, our family, our church, depends on the causes that you and I espouse.
Prayer
All powerful and ever-loving God, your son Jesus gave us an example of commitment in accepting hardship, suffering and eventual death for the sake of the Kingdom. Help us who live in this age to follow his example and that of the saints, canonized and un-canonized, who gave their energies, their lives and sometimes their blood for the sake of justice in our world. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, our mother and your Son, Jesus. Amen
