"Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
As Saint Matthew tells the story, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount – his inaugural statement – has stirred a lot of enthusiasm among his hearers.
When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him.
Matthew 8 then describes the approach of a leper who was immediately healed, the approach of a centurion asking for the healing of his servant, the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law and a host of others, and finally the wannabe disciple in today’s gospel.
But why does Jesus refuse him? His enthusiasm might be the problem. Emotions come and go; they can never be the foundation of a relationship. I might want a life-long relationship with a woman because she makes me feel good, or a life-long relationship with a psychiatrist because I feel bad; but when the feeling passes the relationship loses its foundation. It was built on the shifting sands of my feelings.
But the deeper reason for Jesus’ refusal: he didn’t call this gentleman. The call of a Christian must come from God; it cannot be manufactured out of one’s own desires or ambitions. This has been problematic for the Church for the last few centuries. Some men come to the priesthood who should not be admitted. (Have you noticed?) I knew a canon lawyer who helped priests apply for a dispensation from their duties. He routinely asked the men, “When you were in the seminary, did you ever ask yourself, ‘What does God want for me?’" They had not. They entered the priesthood without the foundation of obedience and prayer. It was nothing more than ambition, perhaps based upon the inchoate wishes of their parents.
Likewise, women who believe they have a right to be ordained meet a stone wall of resistance. There simply is no such right.
Finally, the controversy around birth control and artificial insemination reflects this teaching. At the Catholic altar the presiding minister asks every couple, “Are you willing to receive children if God gives you children?” The couple who simply refuses children or, contrariwise, intends to manufacture them does not have the right disposition.
Becoming parents, the couple must remember God gives children not as possessions but as responsibilities. Psychiatrists are kept busy hearing stories of jealous, possessive, helicopter parents who wanted to relive their lives through their children. I find it ironic that the same people who denounce the Church’s teaching on birth control complain incessantly about their controlling parents, spouses and children. Their issue really isn’t control; it’s who has the control.
To be disciples of Jesus we renounce control of our lives. The third of Twelve Steps of AA states, “We made a decision to turn our life and will over to the care of God as we understood him.” This surrender is not an option for Christians; it is a prerequisite.
This homily has bothered me for the whole day. I get the idea that we have had too many priests who received the sacrament only to please mommy dearest. I get the piece about women who think they have the right to be ordained. I get the piece that my husband and I are in the midst of discerning God's will for the diaconate.
ReplyDeleteIt still bothers me that I am left with the feeling from your homily that God calls only some people. I think God calls all people. To what is the the question. To think that Jesus rejected the desire of the young man in this gospel doesn't set well with me. I do think Jesus had a call for him, just not what the young man thought it should be. I agree that a commitment can not be based only on a feeling. In Marriage Encounter they talk about how love is a decision. Love doesn't just feel good. Love is good.