13th Sunday in Ordinary Time
1 Kings 19:16, 19:21. Gal 5:1, 13-18. Luke 9:51-62
The 9th Chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel starts off with Jesus sending out the twelve Apostles, giving them power and authority over demons and unclean spirits and commissioning them to proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus leads them by example on how they should go and how they should act and minister. It is said that the climax of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee was Peter’s profession of Faith in Jesus as the Christ. After this Jesus took the three disciples to Tabor and there, was revealed to them, by the Father, as the Beloved Son.
Now Jesus begins the journey to Jerusalem. This journey is real and symbolic: Real in that this is where his mission on earth was to be fulfilled, where He goes to complete His sacrifice, Symbolic in that each step along the way is marked out by lessons for His followers on the life of discipleship. Luke tells us that this is where He was to be “taken up”. Taken up is usually meant to be taken up into heaven (Ascension), as today’s translation says, but it is likely to mean taken up on the cross, which, of course is the emphasis that Luke gives to the ministry of Jesus as suffering servant.
For the next twenty Sundays the journey will continue. This is a journey where there is one leader and others are followers. Those who journey with the Lord are called - they do not so much choose to go on the journey, as respond to the Call.
The first disciple to speak up does choose! “I will follow you wherever you go”. It seems a very generous offer, but he does not understand the profundity of this moment. This choice does not follow the pattern of other life choices. There is no security, it is a movement into the unknown, and there is no terminus. The one, who sets out on this journey must keep moving forward!
Jesus calls, even the most unlikely people and, even when they respond to that call there are still more obstacles. Jesus demands more than expected. Leaving parental and familial ties seems to be integral to being disciples of Jesus. Even the sacred and ancient tradition of burying dead parents fades into insignificance.
The lesson of this gospel story on the journey to Jerusalem is ‘constancy’. The commitment to building up of the Kingdom of God is all important. There is no turning back or taking the mind off the task. The plough is a good image for the single-mindedness required - One hand on the plough, the other controlling the ox. But even that is not enough – as in the first reading – the ox is killed for food for the journey and the plough broken to build a fire for cooking. Our liturgy today renews for us the call of the Lord. It challenges us once again to respond with generosity and strengthens us in our commitment and constancy in the service of the Lord. Let us pray for each other as we begin our own journey up to Jerusalem.