23rd Sunday in
Ordinary Time
Cycle C
September 8, 2013 7:30
and 9:00am
Saint
Margaret Parish, Bel Air
A Job Interview
Imagine
for just a minute that you apply for a job and get called for an interview.
In the
interview the boss says that the working conditions are not the best. It’s an old building and your office area
would have no windows.
The
restrooms are antiquated. And the
building gets a bit warm in the summer because the air conditioning system is
under-powered.
Then
the boss talks about the work hours. She
says that the normal hours will be 9 to 5, but each Friday she lists the hours
for the coming week.
Lots of
times the hours will shift and go from1 to 9pm.
She knows that this makes planning stuff with your family tough, but
that’s the way it is.
And
then the boss talks about the compensation package. The pay clearly isn’t great.
The
benefits are minimal. And, while they
have a 401 retirement plan, the employer doesn’t contribute anything to it.
When
you look at all of this, it isn’t great compared to other places. But you really like this type of work and you
take the job.
A Discipleship Interview
That
kind of job interview helps us to appreciate today’s gospel.
It’s
almost as if Jesus is giving a discipleship interview. He is laying out some of his basic
expectations.
Sometimes
you’ll have to do things you dislike.
Sometimes you’ll have to put family and friends second.
And
sometimes you’ll have to let go of money and comforts and share with
others. Jesus uses some pretty extreme
language here – like hating others.
These
are really literary expressions of his day.
Their intention is to jolt us not to hate anyone, but to make a positive
decision for him.
Jesus
wants us to allow him and our relationship with him to color all that we
do. So sometimes we’ll have to let go of
our preferences, attachments, and enjoyments for the sake of following him.
The Job Description
For
example, right in these weeks, some of our young adults are in a sense letting
go of family. They are leaving home and
family maybe for the first time and going off to college.
And
they are doing this as a way to take the next step in developing themselves as
persons and using the gifts God has given them.
Consciously or not, they are following the Lord’s calling.
Or
parents might let go of going out to dinner to a rather expensive
restaurant. No question, there is
nothing wrong with that and it is good for them to get out together.
But
they hold off doing this so that they can buy the new jeans or sneakers for
their kids or meet some other family bills.
Again, consciously or not, they are following the Lord’s calling.
Or
maybe a mother and father-to-be learn from pre-natal testing that their child
will have some significant developmental issues. They are upset and anxious and have to let go
of some expectations.
But
they do not resort to an abortion and they follow through with the best pre and
post-natal care that they can provide.
Again, consciously or not, they are following the Lord’s calling.
Or maybe
we Americans in general need to let go of some of our expectations. Some current authors are saying that the
world is shifting and that we can no longer expect the kind of constantly
advancing lifestyle that we have had.
So
maybe we let go of some of these expectations which were fine in themselves and
we do this knowing that material comforts alone will not bring us happiness
anyway. Again, consciously or not, we
are following the Lord’s calling.
Conclusion
So, Jesus gives us a challenging job description for being
a disciple.
It is a job description with real-life consequences. But it will be rewarding work and a rewarding
life.
