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GOSPEL COMMENTARY LK 9:51-32

What does it take to be a disciple of Jesus?

Fr. Paul deLadurantaye

The Gospel that we consider this week takes place after the Lord’s Transfiguration. During the Transfiguration account, Jesus’ face and clothing changed, radiating forth the glory of God. Now the days for Jesus to be taken up into heaven are fulfilled and St. Luke tells us that “he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem.” The words “resolutely determined,” in the original Greek of the Gospel, literally mean “set his face” toward Jerusalem. In other words, the glory of God that shone from the face of Jesus on Mount Tabor is now to shine in Jerusalem through His suffering, death and resurrection. Thus, Jesus begins His one and final journey (as St. Luke portrays it) to Jerusalem, a journey through death to eternal life.

On the way, the Lord imparts valuable lessons about discipleship. The first comes when the Samaritans, whose village Jesus and His followers enter, refuse to accept Him. James and John want to destroy the village, but Jesus rebukes them: They are not yet disposed to grasp the meaning of discipleship. Jesus has not come to make people His slaves with fire or the sword. Rather, He has come to give up His life for us — not to compel us to do anything, but to free us from the compulsion of sin. Neither defiance nor vindictiveness prepares us to be the Lord’s disciples. Instead, Jesus specifies three other qualities of worthy discipleship in His interactions with those who meet Him on His journey.

One person enthusiastically declares that he will follow the Lord wherever He goes. Jesus responds by pointing out the cost of discipleship in both material and spiritual terms: “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” With these words, the Lord reminds His would-be follower that discipleship has to be grounded in concrete commitment, not just enthusiasm. What are we willing to give up or set aside for the sake of the kingdom of God? What do I have to learn to let go of in order to follow Christ with single-mindedness, with a purity of mind, heart and intention? Moreover, the Son cannot rest (“lay His head”) anywhere on earth until He has fulfilled His Father’s will. In a similar way, we must resist all temptations to take refuge in our own security or safety. Like Christ Himself, we too are called to be resolutely determined to unite ourselves with Him and enter into communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit as the guiding and decisive commitment of our lives.

Jesus then calls a second person who asks that he first bury his father. The Lord replies with strange-sounding words: “Let the dead bury their dead.” Jesus does not mean to disparage family ties or the need to provide funeral rites for the dead; instead, His words are intended to help us overcome the temptation to find excuses for procrastinating or even for disqualifying ourselves from discipleship. Any one of us can say, “I will follow Christ later — when I retire, when the children leave for college, when I have more time.” Jesus stresses the urgency of discipleship here and now by calling for full surrender in confidence to the providence of God the Father who in turn will provide for every human need.

Finally, those who would be disciples are to put their hand to the plow and not look back. Christ wants the whole of each person — He wants us to go with Him on life’s journey with an undivided heart and a willing spirit. Gospel discipleship can never be a halfway proposition: Despite our weaknesses and failures, we either seek to be with Christ or we do not — there really is no middle ground.

Elsewhere in the Gospels, Jesus declared that a disciple should be glad to be like his Master. Just as Jesus “set his face” — “resolutely determined” — to go to Jerusalem in order to pass through death to life, so each of us is called to do the same. To set our face toward Jerusalem with Jesus means making the Father the source and the goal of our love. It means making a total commitment, here and now, to follow the Lord on a daily basis. When the Father sees such revolve on our faces, then He takes us up into His love with His Son — and this is our fulfillment.

Fr. deLadurantaye is director of the Office of Sacred Liturgy, secretary for diocesan religious education and a professor of theology at Christendom’s Notre Dame Graduate School in Alexandria.

The Work of God

Year C - 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time

You don’t know of what spirit you are.

Luke 9:51-62

51 And it came to pass that when the days were approaching for him to be taken up to heaven, he steadfastly took the road for Jerusalem.
52 And he sent messengers before him; and going, they entered into a city of the Samaritans, to prepare for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was of one going to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John had seen this, they said: Lord, is it all right with you that we command fire to come down from heaven to consume them?
55 And turning, he rebuked them, saying: You don’t know of what spirit you are.
56 The Son of man came not to destroy souls, but to save. And they went into another town.
57 And it came to pass, as they walked in the way, that a certain man said to him: I will follow you wherever you go.
58 Jesus said to him: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.
59 But he said to another: Follow me. And he said: Lord, suffer me first to go, and to bury my father.
60 And Jesus said to him: Let the dead bury their dead: but you go, and preach the kingdom of God.
61 And another said: I will follow you, Lord; but let me first take my leave of them that are at my house.
62 Jesus said to him: No man putting his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God

Inspiration of the Holy Spirit - From the Sacred Heart of Jesus

13th Sunday in Ordinary Time - You don’t know of what spirit you are.

Great is the power of God and greatly blessed are those who have received it. Moses commanded the sea to open and it obeyed, the prophet Elijah commanded the heavens to pour down rain and they obeyed.

The power of God was always in me, the Son of the Living God, a power that cannot be put in the wrong hands. My power is the power of my Word, it is absolute power that has created everything that has come into existence.

However I did not come into the world to show off my power or to exalt myself with it. I came with a different purpose; I used my power to save the world by denying my self, by taking up my cross and by sacrificing myself.

The power exercised in performing my miracles was the power of God giving testimony of my coming into the world.

I granted my apostles and all those who believe in me a share of my power so that they would be able to heal the sick and to cast out demons. There was a moment when the Apostles were tempted to misuse that power in a moment of pride. I showed them how the spirit of God uses His power not to destroy but to build, not to condemn but to save, not to exalt but to humble.

As children of God, you would all have the same powers that I had here on earth, but because of the pride in your hearts, those great gifts have to be suppressed for now.

The power of God is at home in the hearts of the humble. It is the great power of faith that is given to those who put all their trust in God. It pierces through the heavens and comes straight to my throne; it always receives when it asks. Nothing pleases me more than to answer the petitions of the humble.

Humility is the great lesson that I taught the world. I said, learn from me because I am meek and humble of heart. I tell you now, come to me and become like me so that you benefit from my power that makes you sons and daughters of the Most High.

I explained how the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head. I was saying, here is your King, the Almighty God who having everything has reduced himself to nothing in order to teach you that humility is the way to go, because pride blinds the soul and leads you to sin.

He who desires me must follow me, He who follows me will become like me, but the price he has to pay is detachment from the world and from his self-love.

Author: Joseph of Jesus and Mary