On this, the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, the Holy Scripture puts before us the frailty of the human condition, and the call to follow Christ without reservation.
The first reading, from the Book of Wisdom, reminds us that “the reasoning of mortals is worthless, and our designs likely to fail”. This is not mere pessimism, nor is it a negative view of humanity. It simply serves to help us recall that we are frail, contingent beings, we do not have life in and of ourselves. We are not as independent, as powerful, as strong as we sometimes pretend to be. God is the only one who truly IS, and as the Psalm says, He turns man back to dust. No matter how great our skill was, no matter how wise we were, no matter how much money we made, no matter how important we seemed – in society, in the Church, in the world – we will go back to being dust.
The second reading, from the Letter of St. Paul to Philemon, also alludes to this frail condition of human nature. St. Paul writes that he is composing his letter as an old man, and a prisoner. St. Paul, who roamed the Roman world preaching Christ, who made missionary voyages unlike anyone else of his time, is now coming to the end of his days. St. Paul is using his energy, his influence, not to set himself free, not to seek his own freedom, not to get himself pardoned – St. Paul is using his influence to give liberty to a slave named Onesimus. He is asking that Onesimus be set free. I would like to turn to those among us who are aged, who are old, who are getting up in years: in these, perhaps the final years of your life, do you need to set anyone free? Before you pass from this world to the next, is there someone who is waiting for your word, a word that will give them freedom? Maybe there still is someone who waits for your forgiveness, who waits for a gesture of reconciliation; someone who is still bound, who is still in need of forgiveness and mercy.
We move toward the Gospel. In this particular moment in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus has many followers – like celebrities on social media. However, unlike celebrities, Jesus does not use his following for an “ego boost” but displays burning charity towards the crowds – reminding them that they cannot place the love for parents, the love for wife or husband, the love for brothers and sisters, above the love for him.
Now, the word “hate” has an idiomatic meaning, and it signifies “to love less”(Hahn and Mitch, 2010, p. 136). “Not even the sacredness of family loyalty should outweigh our commitment to Christ, since we must be willing to abandon even close relationships to follow him”(Hahn and Mitch, 2010, p. 136). Jesus does not mean that we need to hate father or mother, after all he is the one who asked the rich young man whether he knew the commandment to “Honour your father and mother” (Luke 18:20). Still, as we honour our parents, as we strive to act charitably towards our brothers and sisters, as we love husband and wife, we are reminded that our first vocation is to follow Christ, and that our first love is God – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
As the Catechism asks of us, “Family ties are important but not absolute. Just as the child grows to maturity and human and spiritual autonomy, so his unique vocation which comes from God asserts itself more clearly and forcefully. Parents should respect this call and encourage their children to follow it. They must be convinced that the first vocation of the Christian is to follow Jesus: ‘He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me’". (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2232). A scene in a Christian movie summarizes this well, a movie which portrays the struggles a married couple is undergoing. In this scene the wife says to her husband – “I am yours, but Christ’s first” – a similar thing can be repeated by a husband to a wife, by a child to a parent – there are deep ties that bind us, but ultimately, I am Christ’s first. Our Lady was able to set aside family ties, and despite of her engagement to St. Joseph, was able to say in the Annunciation – I put God’s plan first, ahead of my own plans and the plans of my future spouse.
By way of conclusion, it is still useful to repeat how the Catechism interprets the commandment to “Honour your father and mother”, especially in the case of children who have reached adulthood. The Catechism states, “The fourth commandment reminds grown children of their responsibilities toward their parents. As much as they can, they must give them material and moral support in old age and in times of illness, loneliness, or distress” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2218).
As Sacred Scripture puts before us the frailty of the human condition, let us accept the importance of family ties, and at the same time, remember Christ’s call to follow Him without reservation.
(Fr. Pawel Ratajczak, OMI, Sept. 8, 2019)