First Reading Commentary
In this Reading the roadway is being paved
which will eventually lead to the revelation that the Holy Spirit is the Third
Person in the Blessed Trinity.
How much is known about God? What can we expect from Him? What are His plans for each of us? There are many questions concerning God. Throughout the course of salvation history some
of those answers have already been divulged by God Whose perfect Wisdom willed
to clothe Himself in flesh and unveil that He is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; "and
thus were the paths of those on earth made straight".
"The corruptible
body burdens the soul" and certainly the mind can be considered part of
the body. This is the classic battle
that occurs within each of us. Even the
desire to know more about God than what His infallible will has already revealed
is a battle that is of the flesh - not the soul. The flesh burdens itself with labor,
ailments, curiosity or the need to know, as well as other worries and anxieties
while the soul is burdened because of its longing to rest forever in the Arms
of the Creator. In other words, for the
soul, God is all that matters. As
Christians, we hope to achieve at least a partial truce so that the body is
more in harmony with the soul. At the
resurrection, the body and soul will be in perfect harmony because a glorified
body will be joined with the soul and the battle will forever cease.
Second Reading Commentary
Saint Paul met and by the power of the Holy
Spirit converted Onesimus to Christianity while imprisoned. Onesimus was a slave who had run away from
his master, Philemon, a Christian of Colossae. Paul convinced Onesimus to return to Philemon
with this letter hoping to minimize or eliminate his probable punishment for
desertion. According to the law of that
time Onesimus could possibly face crucifixion.
Paul appeals to Philemon's charity which Paul must have previously
witnessed first hand. Paul does seem to
hint, however, that as an apostle of Christ, he has the right to force a
charitable attitude towards Onesimus but he doesn't wish to do that if it is
not necessary; Paul would rather rely on the decency of Philemon. It would seem that Paul is suggesting that
Philemon's temporary loss of Onesimus was the result of Divine Providence. Now the door has been opened to Philemon to
receive Onesimus back as a brother instead of a slave.
This Reading appeals
to us as Christians to remind us that we're all brothers and sisters in the
Lord, called to serve one another with a charitable heart.
Gospel Commentary
Harsh words from our Savior would seem to
be quite common in the "Journey Narrative". Jesus is talking about hating those who are
closest to us. There's really no way to
tip-toe around this because the ancient languages translate to mean exactly
that. This is definitely an eye opener
and something that should indeed attract attention because true discipleship is
serious business.
First of all, Christians believe that Jesus
is God and God is Love and Love is incapable of hating; nor would He ever
command His followers to hate anyone else.
Hate is a human emotion, though, and whenever it rears its ugly head, it
should only be directed at sin, that is, hate the sin but love the sinner.
When examining these shocking words from
our Redeemer, and comparing it to the parable He uses in this Gospel, it
becomes clearer what Jesus is talking about.
Christ is looking for complete self-abandonment from His followers. Counting the cost is the moral of the
parable. What is the cost of walking
away from true discipleship?
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
teaches that Christ is the Center of all Christian life; and the bond with Him
takes precedence over all other bonds, familial or social (cf. CCC 1618). If Christians are to follow the Model and His
devotion to the Kingdom of God, detachment which grows out of complete
self-surrender is vital. Christ is very
clear about what His disciples’ disposition must be in order to properly follow
Him. As disciples, we must ask ourselves
if we fit Christ's qualifications for discipleship; and if we don't, are we
willing to do what it takes to make the cut?
The intention of the heart is very
important. As sinful human beings, more
than likely all of us will from time-to-time fail miserably at our efforts of
complete self-abandonment and total devotion to our Lord. But when we fail, is it because we fearfully
abandoned our heart's desire or is it because our hearts were never really in
it? The former requires penance while
the latter not only requires penance but a major re-evaluation of what's really
important.
It's impossible to be dealing with matters
of God and not be dealing with Love. In
a strange twist, hate as it is used in this Gospel can be adequately
substituted with love. Love for parents,
spouse, children, friends and each other demands a great deal of sacrifice and
self-abandonment. True love always puts
the needs of others before our own; and when it is done for others, it is done
for Christ.
