Saturday, September 3, 2022

The Disciple and the Wisdom of the Cross

Meditation for the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
(Wisdom 9:13-18; Philemon 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14:25-33)

In our meditation today, the mood of the message in the three readings is greatly captured by the opening sentence of the gospel. It says, ‘Great multitudes accompanied Jesus, and He turned and said to them…” That He paused His journey, turned and faced the crowed shows that He was going to say something important. This action indicates that what he was going to say was important and urgent. The promptness with which He delivered the message must be noted, for the messaged demands prompt response too.

 

Jesus turned and said to them, “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even His own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple.” The way Jesus delivered the message underlies its preeminence and urgency. The message of the Cross is at the center of the Christian life; it a defining mark of every Christ faithful.  “We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body” (2 Cor 4:10). The crosses we bear make us personally responsible and committed to the Body of Christ. And the immediate and prompt Cross each person is summoned to carry is detachment from the most intimate natural attachments of our life. This detachment comes by placing the love of Jesus above love for oneself and love of father, mother, wife, brother, sister, etc. It becomes a cross to give preference to Jesus and to His glory over and above one’s self-preservation or honor to those we have filial bonds with. In this way, our very selves are offered up to the Father through the passion of Jesus. “When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to myself” (Jn 12:32).

 

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal 5:24). “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:20). So, the hidden wisdom of God, which the first reading talks about, is revealed to us through the Cross of Christ. For by our prompt response to the invitation to carry our cross and follow Jesus, we live, not by human reasoning, but by ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Cor 2:7-16). This is how we can understand the mysteries of God, and live uprightly.

 

We see a demonstration of the wisdom of the Cross as St Paul appeals to Philemon to receive back his former servant, Onesimus, and to regard him as a brother! St Paul saw through his encounter with the young man in prison as divine plan to set Onesimus free and established him as a beloved brother. The second reading displays humility, brotherly love, forgiveness and reconciliation. These are external manifestation of the internal mark of the Cross in the hearts of the faithful. That is why the message of the Cross is urgent and prompt!

 

Therefore, Jesus explains further that the wisdom of the cross is necessary for us to succeed in life, and it is an important technique for us to conquer every opposition. Think about the planning and gathering of resources needed to build a tower, or, the preparations and training a king needs to put in place for his army to win? The wisdom employed in each of these cases must be deep and far-sighted. That is how far-sighted, urgent and prompt the wisdom of the cross is for our well-being and for our salvation. We must begin today to discover our most hidden and intimate attachments, whether persons or possessions, and begin to offer to Jesus a love greater than those attachments. With this we shall defeat every enemy or opposition and succeed in our endeavors. Above all, we shall excel as His disciples. Jesus said, “Whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” Amen.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos.

Sunday September 4th, 2022.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com

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