Counting the Cost of Discipleship

HOMILY FOR THE 23RD SUNDAY IN THE ORDINARY TIME, YEAR C. SEPTEMBER 4, 2022.

Sunday Readings

“ It is not that I want merely to be called a disciple of Christ but actually to be one. Yes, if I prove to be one, then I can have the name. “
—Ignatius of Antioch

My Dearest Friends in Christ ,
On this 23rd Sunday, the Gospel reading challenges us to count the cost and evaluate our readiness and conviction for becoming a disciple of Christ.

It is easy to get into something without first calculating the cost and evaluating the challenge involved. Truly, many who are Christians today aren’t so by choice. They simply found themselves in a family who are adherents of a particular religion and went along. A disciple is a student who follows the instruction of the teacher. Likewise, a disciple of Christ lives by the instruction, commandments, and teachings of Christ. Unfortunately, many who are Christians today hold on to their personal ideological and subjective beliefs that are contradictory to the teachings of Christ and yet come to church. Many of these avowed beliefs are antithetical to Christian values. The truth is that many who are Christians lack conviction in beliefs about the teachings of Christ. For many, being a disciple of Christ may simply mean following some popular religious belief/ trend that has survived the test of time, or whatever their belief is.

My dearest friends, today we are called to reevaluate why we chose to be Christians and to ask ourselves if we are truly convinced disciples of Christ or simply adherents of Catholicism.

Duplicity, fanaticism, syncretism and hypocrisy have dominated the Christian space in our contemporary Church and it is becoming outrageous. The Gospel of today is a call to all of us to retreat and to reaffirm our beliefs and conviction in following Christ.

The first reading remarked, ” …for the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns…” What is weighing us down spiritually, as we can see from this reading, is the excessive desire to gratify and satisfy our material desires. This is what has contributed adversely to diminishing the quality of Christian witnessing in our world today. We left the Jesus we were following as disciples and followed the insatiable and consuming desire of materialism. Today we have to decide whom to follow. “Evil draws its power from indecision and concern for what other people think.“
-Pope Benedict XVI

In the second reading from the Book of Philemon, Paul writes from prison to Philemon, pleading with him to accept his runaway slave Onesimus who had wronged him and ran away. In this letter, Paul as a true disciple of Christ, initiated a reconciliation between Onesimus who had become a Christian, and Philemon his master. Reconciling others, as Paul demonstrated , should be one of the responsibilities of a true disciple of Christ. Whoever sows the seed of enmity that breeds all forms of hatred and evil cannot be a disciple of Christ, because the whole mission of Christ on earth is to reconcile mankind to God the Father from whom we were separated by the guilt of sin. This, Christ achieved with His death on The Cross.

The Gospel reading brings us to the central idea of our reflection this morning on our conviction as disciples of Christ. Have we actually sat down to reflect on the cost of being a disciple of Christ and are we willing to the pay the price? Calculating the cost of doing something gives us the conviction to decide whether to go ahead with that or to quit. It is obvious many of us are not really convinced about why we are Christians. Many would say, ‘I am one because I was born into it.’ Many of the American youths that I have encountered who don’t profess any faith were actually raised in Christian homes and went to Christian schools. Today they are better-called atheists. These are just a small group who decided to be neutral to anything religious despite their Christian background because, possibly, the society or the Church couldn’t offer them enough reason to be convinced that being a disciple of Christ is really worth it. I am getting worried because I keep asking if we have failed as a Church. Many of us Catholics know nothing about the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Something urgent needs to be done to rescue this generation from sliding into atheism and agnosticism , otherwise the future of the Church (discipleship) is in great danger.

Jesus’ hyperbolic language in the Gospel of today — to hate one’s own family — is simply to stress the seriousness of taking the journey with Him to Jerusalem. In the first century, Jewish families were central, so the implications of and challenge of Jesus’ Words are real. Jesus seeks singularly devoted persons, undistracted by the cares of daily life. This may explain why most of His disciples were probably unmarried (though Peter is one exception). And, most of the women who approached Jesus were also single (cf. 8:1-3). On the other hand, family members would certainly disapprove of Jesus’ instructions, since it involves a commitment that may detract from a person’s familial responsibilities. Still, as Jesus will stress elsewhere, it’s impossible to serve two masters (cf. 16:13). He uses love/hate language there as well. Jesus desires serious seekers with dedicated devotion.

Are we willing to be more committed to following Christ as true disciples undistracted by family, work, or any material concern ? If we are, it is time to shun fanaticism, hypocrisy, syncretism, the excessive quest for materialism and to focus more on following Christ. You cannot be a disciple to a master whose words or instructions you don’t know, so start reading your Bible again. “Make knowledge of the Scriptures your love…. Live with them, meditate on them, make them the sole object of your knowledge and inquiries.”
—Jerome

May God grant us the Grace of true conviction in following Him with total devotion and commitment. May we remain strong in the faith we profess even when the society or challenges of life try to discourage us.

Prayer, Lord, give me the strength of Your conviction. Give me clarity in my mission and help me to serve You unwaveringly in all things. May I never cower when faced with the challenges of life, but always deepen my resolve to serve You with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You.