Alberic Jacovone OSB
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YEAR C
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR - 1.7.07
1 Kg 19,16.19-21; Gal 5,1.13-18; Lk 9,51-62
When the
going gets tough.....The
tough get going
It’s
never easy when—due to strong conflicts we must face a tough decision in life.
It’s like going on a trip into the unknown through all sorts of
dangers. Let’s recall a time when
we had to make a drastic change in our life or in our career….
Everything
came to a stand-still: all of a sudden we had to notify people that our
responsibilities had to be handed over; bosses, banks, schools, committees…
Then started the confused planning for the future: a far away trip—packing
with the tedious decisions about what to throw away and what to keep, new
accommodations and new tasks - so much programming and no time to do it - so
much uncertainty when so much energy was needed.
Well,
this is exactly what today’s Gospel is all about.
Today, we resume the continuous reading of Luke’s Gospel, and reflect
on the central point when Jesus made the toughest decision of his life: to go to
Jerusalem and there fulfil his destiny - to the bitter end - on Mt. Calvary,
through the shameful death on a cross. So
far, Luke’s Gospel has given us - in charming overtones - the infancy
narratives of Jesus and his early ministry in Galilee (Chapter1-9,50).
Today, Luke asks us to stop and notice what
happened to Jesus when he made his resolute decision to head for
Jerusalem and march into his destiny at the head of his small band of disciples.
Then he goes on writing what happened to the crowd as a whole but
especially to his disciples as Jesus kept challenging everyone to follow him
along the lonely and risky road of the cross (Chapters 9,51-19,40).
As an astute story teller, Luke on purpose adopts the framework of a
journey, to mark the central decision in the life of Jesus and to describe the
response, that the disciples of Jesus gave, when they were asked to leave behind
all hesitation and follow him.
We
too are asked to make our response.
In
the power of Moses and Elijah
Our
Christian faith is of great help, at times of tough decision making in our life.
In today’s Gospel, Luke proposes the example of Jesus and goes out of
his way to show that Jesus took his hard decision ‘in the power of Elijah’.
What he means is: Jesus was fully aware that his mission on earth was to
give his life for us on the Cross, and thus fulfil God’s saving plan, which
had already been mapped out in the Scriptures by Moses and the Prophets, the
greatest of whom was Elijah. Tough
as the decision was, Jesus had no anxiety, he trusted in God and did God’s
will to the bitter end. Now, this
is the lesson that Luke proposes to us Christians of all time: we - like Jesus -
must trust in God and accept our destiny. Indeed
it’s at this point that Jesus is our Saviour: he takes upon himself our fears
- anxieties - weaknesses and crosses, saying ‘trust in God and trust in me’.
Luke returns over and over again to this central point of Jesus’
mission: for our sake he chose to give his life on the cross for us.
All this had to happen according to what had been pre-ordained in the
Scriptures, which state that He must suffer and die before rising from the dead.
Today
we are urged to focus our faith orientation to God: just as it was true for
Jesus, it’s true for us, that life has its unique purpose and destiny.
Sadly, however we assess our trials and tribulations, disagreements and
conflict resolutions, defeats and aggressiveness, away from Christian wisdom,
which clearly states, that we will never find rest until we rest in God.
Yes, we loose much effort and energy, venting and vindicating our disagreements, when first and foremost we should sort our differences before God, discerning what God’s will is for us and for all. Any other approach ends in arrogance and manipulation. Let’s learn from the Saints to leave all to God, letting go and letting God
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