THE CALL TO DISCIPLESHIP

Meditation for Wednesday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time
(Neh 2:1-8; Lk 9:57-62)

Let us meditate on the mystery of divine vocation as given in the gospel of today. As Jesus and His disciples were going along the road, they encountered three different people who showed interest in being a disciple of Jesus. The first person presented himself to serve as a disciple. His words were so convincing as he said, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Surprisingly, Jesus turned down the offered. His response to the man shows he could read the man’s mind and saw his attachment to comfort and pleasure. Jesus said to the man, “Foxes have holes, and birds of air have nests; but the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.” The clamor of the crowd around Jesus and His disciples would soon evaporate, and the cheering and excitement would give way to silence and loneliness. Divine vocation is basically a call to be ‘alone with God.” That is why no one takes this honor upon himself.

 

Jesus invited the second person, saying, “Follow me.” This man seemed to be gifted with high sense of duty, which would have been very profitable for the spreading of the gospel, for the said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” The man did not understand that the call to follow Jesus is the one and only responsibility that encompasses every other duty. Thus, our sense of duty must be directed to Jesus, then expressed in our other daily engagements. That is why Jesus replied, saying, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”

 

The third person seemed to have an attachment to his family and friends. He had made this earth ‘a home’, so, it became difficult for him to open up promptly to a new relationship that would take him away from ‘home.’ This man seemed to be a passionate person, which would have been a good quality to help him bond with Jesus as a disciple and contribute to the building up of the family of God. But he could not release his hands from the grip he had on his human bonds, so he said to Jesus, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” He did not understand that God’s call demands immediate and complete response. Suspension of our response is at the same time a rejection of the call. Therefore, Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

Since it is God who initiates the call to serve Him at any level, the dignity of any vocation lies in God. That means our response to the call must respect that dignity. Hence, we cannot put hands on the plough of the kingdom of God but have our eyes fixed on the kingdom of earth.

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church,

Tedi-Muwo, Ojo, Lagos, Nigeria.

Wednesday October 3, 2023.

www.nwachinwe.blogspot.com