{"id":2955,"date":"2019-09-08T11:42:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-08T15:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/?p=2955"},"modified":"2019-09-08T11:42:57","modified_gmt":"2019-09-08T15:42:57","slug":"23rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.renewaloffaith.org\/blog\/23rd-sunday-in-ordinary-time-year-c-homily-3\/","title":{"rendered":"23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C – Homily"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

23<\/a>rd<\/a><\/sup> Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C<\/a>
Wisdom 9:13-18b
Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 (1)
Philemon 9-10, 12-17
Luke 14:25-33
September 8, 2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWho\ncan know God\u2019s counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends?  For the deliberations of mortals are timid<\/em>.\u201d  These are the words that began our first\nreading from Wisdom today.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As human knowledge has grown over the\nmillennia, many think it is only a matter of time before we have an explanation\nfor everything. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do we really think we can ever\ncomprehend everything?  We cannot and nor\nare we meant to comprehend everything. \nWe do not know everything and we do not have the perspective to\nunderstand everything.  Our perspective\nis limited by our experiences and by our humanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wisdom goes onto say, \u201cAnd scarce do we guess the things of earth,\nand what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in\nheaven, who can search them out.<\/em>\u201d  We\nare not meant to know everything in this world but that does not mean we are\nnot to know \u201ca lot.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we live in \u201chumility,\u201d\nrecognizing that while we may know much from reason, we do not know everything,\nwhat reason does not teach us, God will reveal to us when needed.  Through the Holy Spirit, God gives us the gifts\nof knowledge, understanding, wisdom, and counsel.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his days here on earth, Jesus\npreached often to teach us what it means to be his disciples.  Some of his teachings be easy to understand\nwhile others are difficult to grasp.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s gospel contains some teaching\nthat might be difficult to understand. \nThis might be troubling in light of the fact that Jesus says three times\nin this one passage that we cannot be his disciple if we do not do these three\nthings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me turn first to the last of the\nthree directions Jesus offers today.  He\nsays, \u201canyone of you who does not\nrenounce all his possessions cannot be\nmy disciple<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Possessions are generally not good or\nbad in and of themselves.  The problem is\nwhen our possessions begin to dictate our lives.  It\u2019s the attachment<\/strong>\nto the possession that is the problem. \nWhen we love the possession more than we love God and our neighbor, we\nhurt or break our relationship with God and neighbor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This may not be too difficult to\nbegin to understand.  It can be much harder\nto live out.  Earthly things come and go\nbut while we have them, we find pleasure in them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus also says, \u201cWhoever does not carry his own cross and\ncome after me cannot be my disciple<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d  For the Jews this would have been inconceivable.  The Cross (crucifixion) was used only for the\nworst of criminals.  For the Gentiles,\nJesus\u2019 death on the Cross seems foolish, a defeat.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For us the Cross brings hope when we\nthink of Jesus giving his life for us on the Cross.  We know that He does this so that our sins\nwill be forgiven when we confess them. \nStill, while we understand the value of Jesus taking up his Cross, we\nmight struggle to understand the value of our own suffering.  I can say it is often in our own suffering we\ndiscover who we really are and what our faith means to us.  Yet, that still doesn\u2019t always make it easy\nto bear our crosses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why we need to come to Mass\nregularly, to receive the grace we need to bear our crosses and to have an\nactive relationship with Jesus, so we know He is always with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, I turn to the first thing Jesus\ntells us in this gospel passage that we must do to be his disciple.  I saved it for last because, taken literally,\nit might be the most difficult to understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf\nanyone comes to me without hating<\/strong>\nhis father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his\nown life, he cannot be my disciple<\/strong>.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wow! \nIs Jesus really telling us to hate people, even ourselves?  What happened to love your neighbor?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One commentary I looked at described\nthis as a \u201cSemitic idiom.\u201d  Another\nreferred to it as a \u201crhetorical hyperbole.\u201d \nI have a vague reconciliation from English class 35 years ago of these\nterms.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bottom line is Jesus uses this\nexpression of hating to get us to think. \nWhat He is trying to get us to understand is that we must put God first.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we to honor and love our father\nand mother?  Yes, but not more than God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are we to love our spouses and\nchildren, as well as brothers and sisters? \nYes, but not more than God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it take to pull you away\nfrom God?  Being faithful to God might be\nchallenging when we have family and friends who do not practice our faith.  Work might make it difficult to attend\nMass.  Sports, music, and other things we\nenjoy might conflict with Mass.  It isn\u2019t\nalways easy but we are called to put God first. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What God asks for is \u201ctotal\ndedication.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does \u201ctotal dedication\u201d to God\nget us?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salvation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also gets us the grace we need as\nwe bear the crosses that come before us. \nWe need an ongoing relationship with God to know He is with us in the\ndifficult times.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is in a life of faith that we know\nthat the Lord has been our refuge and that we can trust that He is always with\nus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year CWisdom 9:13-18bPsalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17 (1)Philemon 9-10, 12-17Luke 14:25-33September 8, 2019 \u201cWho can know God\u2019s counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends?  For the deliberations of mortals are timid.\u201d  These are the words that began our first reading from Wisdom today.  As human knowledge has …<\/p>\n

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