Sunday, September 4, 2022

 TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME, September 4, 2022

(Wisdom 9:13-19; Philemon 9-10.12-17; Luke 14:25-33)

The issue of infant baptism has become controversial at different times in the Church. In the early church some parents did not want their children baptized because they were likely to sin in their youth. Then, during the Protestant Reformation some reformers said that infant baptism is not valid because the person has to make a free decision for Christ. The Church has responded to these approaches with three points.  First, there is evidence of infant baptism in the New Testament. Second, baptism delivers children from the darkness of error into the light of grace. Finally, at baptism parents commit to raising their children in the faith. However, those who were baptized as infants still have to decide for Jesus. Therefore, Jesus challenges us together with the people following him in the gospel today. Jesus tells us: “’ If anyone comes to me without hating his… own life, he cannot be my disciple.”

We have to ask ourselves first how Jesus can make such a sweeping statement. Who is he that we have to love him above all other things? Is he revealing his divine nature in this statement? He may be, but it is also possible that he is identifying himself with the fight against Satan. It is as if a generalissimo asked his troops to fight for him to save the country. Or this weekend we would like to put this example of the world of work. It is as if a union leader were to ask the members to fight for him to win the dignity of the worker.

Then Jesus warns his followers to be aware of what it costs to be his disciple so that they avoid appearing foolish. For the poor of his followers, Jesus gives them the example of a farmer who, before beginning the project, calculates the expenses to build a watchtower in his vineyard. For the rich Jesus compares the preparation for discipleship to a king seeing if he has the troops to defeat another king before he attacks him. In other words, Jesus is challenging his followers to be prepared to make sacrifices to be his disciples.

What St. Paul asks of Philemon in the second reading is no different. Paul wants Philemon to free his slave Onesimus for the sake of Jesus' service. Onesimus sought out Paul after running away from Philemon. He evidently could help Paul so that Paul now wants to get him released. Philemon has to weigh his friendship with Paul and perhaps his membership in the Colossus community against the cost of freeing Onesimus. This cost will be more than the loss of his service. If he frees Onesimus, probably his other slaves will try to gain their freedom by running away to an apostle.

Today's gospel ends with Jesus declaring: "'... anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.” What does he mean by this alarming statement? Do we have to destitute ourselves to be Christians? But it's not like that. The statement means that the disciple has to be ready to relinquish his possessions when necessary. As the peasant has to be ready to spend his savings and the king has to be ready to sacrifice his troops, the disciple has to be ready to sacrifice all his goods if necessary. We have several examples of this type of sacrifice. After the crucifixion, Joseph of Arimathea gave his own tomb to bury Jesus. Twenty years ago, the so-called "richest man in the world" gave most of his wealth to charity. Today the war in Ukraine has revealed many willing to open their homes to refugees.

In the movie "Jurassic Park" someone comments that people would pay any amount of money to see an island full of dinosaurs. As interesting as that is, it's worth much more to inherit the God’s Kingdom as a disciple. We should not worry about the costs involved to get it. Let us look at the good that the Kingdom will present us.