Ordinary 23

The Twenty – Third Sunday in Ordinary Time 2019 – Cycle C Wisdom 9:13-18b; Psalm 90; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Luke 14:25-33

I was taught that when you are praying with, reading, meditating on or listening to Sacred Scripture in our personal devotion or in public worship that there are two questions we should always ask ourselves.

First, what did you hear?  What is being said to you by God, and…

What will it cost you?

In the consumer oriented society we live in, the second question should not come as a surprise to us.  We consider it daily.  From a cup of specialty coffee at Starbucks to surgery; from considering re-siding the house to college tuition; from the price per pound of beef for dinner to necessary medications; from a wedding reception to rent; from paying off the credit card, because we did not consider the cost, to car payments, where we buy gas, senior living and the that mega – sized drink at the over – priced movie we are going to view, we are continually reflecting on the cost of aspects of our life…or not?  The cost can be monetary or life – style choice.  It can be necessary or frivolous.  But life is daily filled with choices over cost.

Did we ever consider that there was a cost to following Jesus?  Why would we?

This is the spiritual life we are talking about.  What cost is there?  We live in a country that continues to nominally support us at least with its appearance of Christianity.  We get Christmas Day and Good Friday off from work, don’t we?  But consider, we have continued the ancient practice of infant baptism in which there is no personal choice or consideration in following Jesus.  Thus the Sacrament of Confirmation, the sealing of Baptism by the Holy Spirit has now become “The Sacrament of Exit” from the Catholic Church.  Why?  Because there is no thought that there is a cost in following Jesus; because there is just nothing to it but going through a ceremony that has little meaning.

Unlike Christians of the first centuries or Christians today in places such as the Middle East and Asia, none of us have to confront the possibility of being arrested or executed for being a Christian.  Do you remember in 2015 the 21 Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christian construction workers who were beheaded by ISIS for…?  For being and acknowledging that they were Christians.  For many Christians today there is a heavy cost for following Christ.

Three times today Jesus says, “…you cannot be my disciple” if you do not consider the cost.

How many of us have really considered the cost and made a conscious choice for following Jesus Christ?

Or are we Catholic Christians because we were raised Catholic, the family is Catholic, for generations and to whatever depth, or it’s, just who I am…I’m Italian, I’m Polish, I’m Irish…we’re Catholics.

How much thought have you and I ever given into following Jesus Christ in the Catholic Christian Church?  And you know with the sexual scandal, the lack of accountability and credibility of our bishops, secular thought, societal and peer pressure, the excuse of busy – ness, and personal tragedies that decision for Jesus Christ is much more difficult and demanding to make today than in previous generations or the choice of our Coptic brothers whose price, though heavy, was clear.

Consider the costs Jesus places before us.  Can we, are we willing, to pay the price to follow Jesus that will include all our family members and all our possessions?

Now “hate” is a strong word.  The Hebrew is rendered more as “sever”, to sever relationships.  Are we committed to Jesus Christ more than our commitments to our deeply loved spouses, children and siblings?  Jesus makes this personal because relationship IS personal.  Following Jesus is not a cold abstraction.  Christianity is not an old comfortable robe and pair of slippers.  It is a choice; a set of priorities.

Are we possessed by our possessions or do we properly use the gifts God has given us?  Are we possessed by our possessions?  Interestingly we use the word “possessed” to often refer to the devil and all those misguided Hollywood movies.  Remember, the overpowering of our person comes in many forms beginning in our own desires.  Are we possessed by our possessions?

Then there is cross bearing.  It’s different than the crosses of jewelry or tattoos that we and many heavy metal bands and main stream performers bear.  To bear our cross means to obey God even in our pain and loss; even in the face of tragedy, trails and our grieving.

Having considered the cost, are we willing to pay the price for following Jesus Christ.  Remember John’s Gospel records that, “As a result of [Jesus’ teachings], many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. [John 6:66]

We gather each Sunday, and many of you meditate daily on the scriptures.  We listen.  What do we hear?  If we have made a conscious decision for Christ, what is the price we are paying for that choice?

I will offer you one example.

I received a letter from a high school student who is heading off to college.  The student related that because she had chosen to follow Jesus, she were ostracized in high school.  This student had no friends; was lonely and had considered suicide a number of times.  Not sexually active, this student’s priorities were different from her peers each weekend.  Yet she persists.  What spiritual challenges will college offer her?  What spiritual challenges does the college experience at Hartwick and SUNY confront the students in our midst?  The cross takes many forms.

There are those among us who have listened to Jesus, considered the cost and have been willing to pay the price of discipleship.

Have you and I done the same?