Reflection:
JESUS ADDS TOLERANCE TO LIST OF VIRTUES

The rejection that Jesus and his disciples suffered at the hands of the Samaritans is no different from our situation today as there are many in the world who still aren’t prepared to meet Jesus. They will simply reject him because of their unbelief or because they are not ready yet to give up the world operating in their own lives.

That Jesus had to go around going Samaria to Jerusalem is what some of us also do when we see or spot a person with whom there is enmity that separates us with the other person. We either take a different path to avoid the person and or simply ignore the person as if he doesn’t exist. What we don’t know is that this unforgiveness or apathy that we harbor in our hearts is a form of rejection that is similar to that which Jesus suffered in Samaria.

In this Gospel, Jesus also teaches us to be tolerant, a virtue that has long been lost.  People of today have become so uptight probably because of the pressures of the world.  And intolerance at times moves us to a conviction that our beliefs and methods alone are correct and unknown to us this attitude has become the cause of so much distress and dissension in the church.  As no man has a monopoly of the truth of God, the kind of tolerance that Jesus is showing us in this Gospel must not be based on indifference but on love which means that we have to look at others with love. Many times we disabuse the word fraternal correction as taught in the Community and we tend to focus on the word “treat him as a Gentile or a tax-collector” when the process fails.

Today we see Jesus making use of every opportunity to deliver his message as he preaches while walking with some of his disciples on their way from Galilee to Jerusalem and we hear Jesus laying down the parameters of discipleship to three of his disciples who were walking alongside him.  And to all three who professed their desire to follow him and as this teaching is also directed towards us we who regard ourselves as Christian disciples in the post-modern world, Jesus gave three “must haves” for anyone who will want to follow him. (1) We must be prepared to venture into the unknown and uncharted territory. (2) Instantaneous action is needed which means we have to act immediately and not tomorrow or at some future time. (3) Jesus demands from us to leave everything behind, look ahead and move forward.

I do believe that this Lucan version on the cost of discipleship as compared to that in Matt 8:18-22 should be reflected upon by everyone who is in a renewal community regardless of how they are classified.  In the Bukas Loob sa Diyos Covenant Community, there are actually three sets of members – one is a regular member who simply attends the Community’s Corporate Worship (Prayer Meeting); a Committed Disciple who commits to attend the Formation Program leading to covenanting, and; a Covenanted Disciple who has completed the three-and-a-half year discipleship formation program and has signed his or her covenant, a document professing his/ her allegiance, a life of service and subservience to God.

In this Gospel, Jesus is telling us what he told the first would-be disciple “but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head” (v.58) which means that those who will follow him must not remain stationary but must become a people on the move. Jesus is actually telling us to draw on our faith to go and step into the unknown as what Abraham did when he was commanded by God to go and he “obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” (Heb 11:8).   And this is what disciples are supposed to do because the grace of the renewal compels us to move out and not remain stationary and become stagnant in our faith. And this is especially true not just for disciple-members of a Church or Community but more so for leaders.

What Jesus also wants from us is immediate action. We need not physically leave our families but like Jesus we are to make use of every opportunity to evangelize and proclaim the Kingdom of God. Jesus requires an instant decision on our part because when we put-off making such a decision for tomorrow there is a tendency we will never make that decision at all. Procrastination is akin to human nature and to become a disciple, our desires must be translated into action.

Finally, Jesus advises us to leave everything behind – our past, our sinful nature, our tendency to dilly-dally, our penchant for grandstanding, our self-centeredness, our bitterness and unforgiveness – because “no one who puts his hand on the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.” (v.62). Farmers normally put an imaginary point at the end of the field and he guides the animal and his plow towards that point on a straight path. It doesn’t mean we are not to look back but what Jesus is stressing is that we need to look forward once we have begun to plow the field.

To be a disciple of Christ, we must all be pro-active because Jesus is not going to accept any form of lukewarm service. As Jesus also sees what is in our hearts, our Lord requires total dedication and not half-hearted commitment. We have to accept the cross and not just aim for the crown and we need to focus on Jesus and not allow ourselves to be distracted along the way especially when we have put our hands on the plow.

Reflection Question:
1.    Are you prepared to follow Christ at any or all cost?

This Week’s Daily Mass Reading Guide:
June 30, 2013 (Sun)    1 Kgs 19:16,19-21/Ps 16:1,2,5,7-11/Gal 5:1,13-18/Lk 9:51-62
July 1, 2013 (Mon)       Gn 18:16-33/Ps 103:1-4,8-11/Mt 8:18-22
July 2, 2013 (Tues)      Gn 16:15-29/Ps 26:2,3,9-12/Mt 8:23-27
July 3, 2013 (Wed)     Eph 2:19-22/Ps 117:1,2/Jn 20:24-29
July 4, 2013 (Thur)     Gn 22:1-19/Ps 115:1-6,8,9/Mt 9:1-8
July 5, 2013 (Fri)        Gn 23:1-4,19;24:1-8,62-67/Ps 106:1-5/Mt 9:9-13
July 6, 2013 (Sat)       Gn 27:1-5,15-29/Ps 135:1-6/Mt 9:14-17

“Ignorance of the Bible is ignorance of Christ.  Read your Bible daily!”

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