Gospel: Luke 14:25-33 (NRSV)
The Cost of Discipleship
25 Now large crowds were traveling with him; and he turned and said to them, 26 “Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, ‘This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.’ 31 Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. 33 So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.
Reflection
This weekend, our society celebrates Father’s Day. I am sure we will hear of the many wonderful things fathers have done and continue to do in our families, our society and in our world. Just recently, as I was walking through the maternity ward at RPA [Royal Prince Alfred Hospital] on my weekly pastoral visits, I stopped to observe fathers bathe their newborns for the first time. The joy and excitement on these men’s faces as they held and nurtured these tiny precious gifts was contagious. And yes, many fathers will wake up on Sunday morning and be offered another new pair of socks or Bonds underwear (or Calvin Klein if you are lucky), a nice family lunch, a day of thanks, hugs and celebration.
In recognising this joy, it is also important that we hold the space for fathers whose experience this Sunday will be vastly different.
For some, Father’s Day would rather be forgotten or brings up great pain.
We can think of the fathers who have been separated from their children through marital breakdowns, or fathers, through their actions or inactions, no longer allowed to see their children.
Having watched MJ the Musical recently, Joseph, Michael’s father, was portrayed as a harsh man, who at one level meant well, but one wonders the impact such fathering had on the lives of his children, despite the fame and fortune that was amassed.
There are times fathers can feel a sense of helplessness in not being able to protect their children from the dangers of the world.
Here I think of the father in the recent Netflix hit series Adolescent who felt as if he had failed his son and his family, despite doing the things that he understood fulfilled his role as a good father. I am sure there are a range of experiences many fathers can talk to within this felt sense of helplessness.
Going a little further afield, we hold fathers who have left their home to defend their country, their people, or to wait in lines in the hope of getting food rations, only never to come back. In my role as prison chaplain, many of the men’s experience of father comes with much pain, and yet there is still a deep connection and desire for healing.
Now, at this point, it would be fair to be asking – why talk of this hard stuff? Why don’t we just leave the conversation at the good and fun experiences of fathers and fatherhood? As I saw in a recent NRMA insurance billboard advertisement whilst driving, “For all those bad dad jokes, we’ve got you covered.”
However, if the Church is to live out its image of a field hospital – a place where people can experience God’s infinite mercy, outpouring of love and forgiveness – then she needs to speak a language that includes the many and varied realities of people’s lives, meeting them where they are at.
It is at this point where we meet our Gospel for this Sunday. Here we see Jesus walking with a great number of crowds, but then he turns and speaks to them. What does he speak to them about? Discipleship.
Rather than say, “Well, you need to do five ‘Our Fathers’ and ten ‘Hail Marys’, and then you need to have been perfect and have followed all the laws, etcetera,” he shocks the crowd, saying “You can only be my disciple if you hate your father, mother, brother, sister….” – the list goes on. Even one’s own life.
I am sure that got their attention. Can you imagine the murmurings amongst the crowds – “did you just hear what he said?” How can we make sense of what Jesus is saying?
I wonder whether we can see his gospel passage as a way Jesus challenged the assumptions of the people around worthiness pertaining to discipleship. That is, the very fact we experience feelings of hate, resentment, regret, guilt, anger, et cetera is precisely the reason we need to draw closer to God.
Jesus knows we experience such feelings as part of our humanity, but rather than push us away, he draws us closer, reminding us that we are his disciples, to follow him on the way and be drawn to the cross.
Just when we think we want to pull away because we may not see ourselves as worthy, Jesus affirms the opposite.
It is here we gaze our eyes on him as a source of life, to soften our hearts, to cry, to let go of the possessions that bind us – not just the material, but the emotional ones as well; the guilt, the shame and pain, just to name a few, that can blind us to hope.
And it is this hope that we are invited to hold onto, to know that we are held and heard, and that our heavenly Father always finds a way to not only shine light in the days of darkness, but also light that awakens in us a heart of gratitude to see all the goodness that surrounds us in the here and now.
Have a blessed Father’s Day.
Richard
Catholic chaplain, Richard Korkor. Image: Diocese of Parramatta.
Richard Korkor is a lay Catholic chaplain serving in the Diocese of Parramatta. Through his work with Catholic Care Western Sydney and the Blue Mountains, the Diocese’s social services agency, Richard offers compassionate care and spiritual support to those in the hospital and prison system – including inmates, staff, and their families. His ministry brings hope and an encounter with Christ to those who need it most. Read more about Richard’s work in Catholic Outlook.
Learn more about Catholic Care’s prison and hospital chaplaincy services.
