13th Sunday - "Follow Me"

 

 In the Gospel we have the advice given separately by Jesus to three individuals who wanted to follow Our Lord. Far from pressuring them to join His group, He even seemed to discourage them. The first was advised to count the cost before joining, as Christ had no fixed home.

His words to the second seem quite harsh: “Let the dead bury their dead,” meaning let the spiritually dead, bury their dead. Our Lord would have known the soul of his father was unrepentant before he died and the soul of the man who refused to follow Jesus was also spiritually dead. Because Jesus can read hearts, Our Divine Lord knew the man had no intentions of following Jesus. In another words, he lied saying that he wanted to first bury his father. So when Jesus said, “Let the dead bury the dead.” He wanted to bring the condition of the man’s soul to his attention for the purpose of attempting help him repent of his sins.

In another words, it was as though Jesus told the man, “Repent now and follow me. Otherwise, you will not repent at all and your soul will be lost.” The lesson is that if we are faced with a radical option and do not take it at once, it is less likely that we will do so later.

His reply to the third was also uncompromising: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is the right kind of person for the kingdom of God.” The fragile wooden plows of that time were in danger of breaking if they struck stones in the fields. Therefore the plowman had to keep his eyes on the ground ahead at all times. The commitment to his task as a disciple of Christ should be total at all times as well.

We wonder whether Jesus was trying to attract or to discourage followers, He was so blunt and forthright in spelling out the hardships it would involve. Jesus has called each one of us to follow him. ‘Follow me’ is a frequently repeated invitation.

He calls us, as well, to a personal relationship with Himself. We are invited to share in His life and in His interests. Discipleship and mission go hand in hand. Precisely because it is His mission it has to be carried out in His way. James and John were zealous but they wanted to do things their way. A fire and brimstone approach even towards opponents was unacceptable to Jesus, so He rebuked them. He had come as Savior, not as the leader of a punishment squad. Sometimes followers of Christ appear to be more like followers of the ‘sons of thunder’. We need the guidance of the Spirit to help us to clarify and to refine our understanding of discipleship.

Disciples must try to break free from false forms of security. The apostles abandoned the security of an established lifestyle in order to be with Jesus.

At an earlier time, Elisha had to set aside his security as a well-off farmer in order to serve with Elijah the prophet. ‘I will follow you, sir, but first let me (etc.)’. How often could this person’s first response be our own? I will follow you but on my own terms. In other words, I will follow you, provided the cost is not too high. We can hardly criticize the would-be followers mentioned in the Gospel, since their response is often our own.

The fact is Jesus conveys a great sense of urgency. There is no time to haggle over terms and conditions. Consent must be unconditional. We need to repent, abandon our own ways of doing things and give a total ‘Yes,’ like Mary, our Blessed Mother. If we do that we can experience the fierce, inner joy of the Spirit which St Paul calls a “pledge,” a first installment of heavenly joy.