July 01, 2013
Monday
13th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading:
Gen 18:16–33
Gospel: Mt 8:18–22
When he saw the crowd press around him, Jesus gave orders to cross to the other shore. A teacher of the Law approached him and said, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
Another disciple said to him, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.” But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Discipleship couldn’t be less radical than this: to leave the past behind no matter how cozy, to embrace the future no matter how hazy, and to take up the challenges of today no matter how heavy.
We need to leave the past behind no matter how cozy. He who holds on to the plow and keeps looking back is not worthy of the kingdom. One who has decided to follow the Lord must cut off all illegitimate attachments in order to start anew in the Spirit.
Even legitimate pleasures of the past must sometimes be abandoned for the willing spirit not to be drawn by the cravings of the flesh.
We need to embrace the future no matter how hazy. To follow Jesus at that time was a real gamble because Jesus was a wandering Jew. Moreover Jesus did not advertise himself nor make false promises to attract followers. He was even candid enough to tell an applicant that he did not have a place to lay his head and rest. If we want to follow Jesus, we must be ready to embrace the future no matter how hazy. This means following Jesus in total trust; anything less is false discipleship.
We must take up the challenges of the present no matter how heavy. A story is told of a dog running after a chicken. Other dogs joined him until all the dogs in the subdivision were out in the street running.
In the end, the other dogs began asking themselves why they were running. Those who ran simply because they saw other dogs running disengaged themselves from the chase. Only the dog that saw the chicken persevered. The story illustrates how important it is to know why we have become disciples. If we don’t recognize a God at the head of the pack we disengage ourselves from the race at the slightest discouragement. We will only persevere if we know who we are following.
We follow a person who did not even have a place to lay his head. Jesus had made clear the requisites of discipleship: you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. None of these requisites is open to compromises. That’s how radical discipleship is. – Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM. Email: dan.delosangeles@gmail.com. Website: www.frdan.org.
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