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4th Sep 2022 

Homily for 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

READ: (Wis 9:13-18; Philem 1:9-10, 12-17; Lk 14: 25-33)

REFLECT: Discipleship is Divine

To be disciples of Jesus is a divine feel, because we follow Jesus the divine Master. The discipleship has a divine origin, because our call to discipleship is divine and therefore it costs us a lot to be moulded, shaped and guided by the divine to be disciples after the heart of Christ. The readings of the day give us as how we can keep the discipleship divine and intact from falsity and follies. So based on the liturgy of the word, I would like to share with you three points of reflection.

1.     God’s plan is best:

God’s plan is the best plan, because God plans out things in such a way that even what we feel worst at times turns out to be the best for all. God’s plans are never in the air rather it becomes applicable and suitable to all at all times, provided one realizes it. The first reading from the book of wisdom unfolds us the wisdom of God saying, “What human being can learn the counsel of God? Or who can discern what the Lord wills? For the reasoning of mortals is worthless and our designs are likely to fail.” Yes, we are all inadequate or find difficulty in understanding the counsel of God or discern the will of God, but it is possible to grasp the plan of God by His grace and assistance.

The disciples who have divine call or divine feel would consider the plan of God as best. Because when our call and feel is divine, the movement will automatically directed towards the divine. Today we all of us have our own plans and projects; at times our plans and projects become a total failure, it is because not in correspondence with the plan of God or not the worth it in the sight of God. We hear in the Gospel (Lk: 12:7; Matt 10:30) “Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”  Yes, If God could count the number of hair in our heads and value us more than a little sparrow would he not plan out the best for us  and make our lives best. So when we rely on God’s plan, wonders begin to happen. Let us believe in God’s plan.

2.     Make others loved

More than self-love, selfless love for others has a value. Self-love we do nothing more than the ordinary, but by selfless love we go beyond the ordinary and prove ourselves as reflection of God’s image to others. Loving others will prove how much we care or support. The lack of genuine love in our relationship with one another makes the relations false, no depth, at time they quit or run away from us. That’s what we see in the second reading from the letters to Philemon, where Onesimus the slave runs away from his master. St. Paul sends Onesimus a slave back to his own master and requests him not to have Onesimus as a slave rather accept him as a beloved brother.

We all know that the slavery system existed long before in the history. The type of slavery system existed shows that the slaves were under the master and they were obliged to obey the master. There was even a Roman slave badge in the olden days that marked with the words, “Seize me if I should try to escape and send me back to my master.” It is even said that the city of Corinth seemed to have functioned as a clearinghouse for slaves, for a large market near the temple of Apollo served as a place for buying and selling of slaves. Paul’s explicit counsel to slaves we find in (1 Cor 1: 20, 26; 1 Cor 7: 20-24).

The disciples who have divine origin and nature will not treat others as slaves but as beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord. St. Paul tells the master of Onesimus to accept him not as a slave but as a beloved brother. Today, there are many who are treated as slaves, enslaved to addictions of bad things and acts, but if we could care for one another with love and compassion, I am sure no one will entangle themselves into such addictions of ruin. Today what people long for may not be for food, clothing and shelter but for love. Let us be promoters of that love in the world. Let us not consider others as subjects or objects rather as mere human beings created by God and all the more consider them as beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord.

3.     Renounce unnecessary attachments:

Blessed John Ruysbroeck, an Augustinian canon and one of the most important of the Flemish mystics says, “The merit of renouncing one’s own will is invariably greater and more precious than getting one’s own way.” Yes, renunciation of oneself has greater merit when we do it for a greater cause. Renunciation is nothing but abandonment. If we want to become part of the divine discipleship, there are certain things that we need to renounce. That’s why someone has said it aptly, “to be a disciple is a costly affair and all the more to be a disciple of Christ is even more costly for following Christ involves the mind of Christ, mannerisms of Christ in life.

In order to obtain Christ’s mind and mannerisms we need the grace of God, courage, commitment and conviction. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus points out very clearly who could be his disciples. The Disciples of Christ need to love God more than the family and family members; the disciple of Christ has to renounce oneself; the disciple of Christ has to carry one’s own cross and follow Jesus and not anybody. After saying what the disciples need to renounce Jesus gives two perfect imageries; an image of an architect and a King going for a war, as to how the disciples need to be clear and plan out themselves to be perfect Disciples of Christ.

We know an architect plans or makes blueprint to start a new project or construction and a king who goes to wage war against another plans how well he can handle or defeat the opposite party. Similar should be the plan and preparation of those who follow Christ. Just as the construction of building is collapsed when not built properly without a plan, just as a king and his kingdom become a victim to those who wage war when not proper methods and measures are taken, so shall be the life of the Disciples of Christ.  If they don’t plan their journey as disciples with the plan of God, their life will be in ruins or the life of others will be in ruin.

There are many of us who follow Jesus as disciples, do we renounce all that is ungodly or unbecoming of us as Disciples of Christ. We need to cross check them. Most of us as Disciples of Christ still cling on to our own ways of living. Whether it be money or power or honor or family ties for that matter, we just seek after or never grow weary of it. But Jesus reminds us to renounce certain ways and means in order to be true followers of Christ. We need to renounce ourselves from selfish acts, jealousy, gossip, goods and gadgets that grip us to the worldly ways, pride and arrogance etc. Let us renounce all that is worldly or ungodly to be Disciples of Christ.

RESPOND:

Do I accept and understand the plan of God as best or do I cling on my personal plans as best?

Do I treat others as beloved brothers and sisters or treat them as slaves and subjects or objects?

Do I renounce worldly pleasures and pressures for God’s work and God’s glory?

Let us accept and believe in the plan of God, accepter others as beloved brothers and sisters in the Lord and renounce all that is worldly to keep the divine discipleship intact from falsity and duplicity. Amen.

We practice detachment in three areas: renunciation of external possession; mortification of the body, and detachment of heart, of things that we hold dear. (AE VI, 122, Conf. 8, SC I, pp. 92).

God Bless us all…

Live Jesus