Daily Gospel Reflection
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June 26, 2022
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?”
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
“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.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Today Jesus’ recruitment strategy seems to miss the mark. How is he supporting potential disciples in their current circumstances while also exciting them to join his mission?
When Jesus receives his first avid recruit, he warns the man his mission will lead to challenges and suffering. Then Jesus asks another to follow him. The man makes one request—to bury his father. Jesus’ response seems harsh. Finally, another willing recruit wants to say goodbye to his family, and Jesus tells him not to look back on what he would be leaving.
Christ’s responses seem particularly cringe-worthy to me because I work as a college campus minister. I have to recruit retreat leaders and ministry helpers often. If I were as strict as Jesus when students shared similar family concerns with me, I would get a bad rap as an unreasonable minister.
As the Catholic church experiences decreased participation, I aim to make it easier for people to engage in whatever capacity they can—not to make it an all-or-nothing commitment that could inhibit engagement.
But as I reflect on this passage further, I realize that perhaps I have made the all too common mistake of misidentifying participation with discipleship. Jesus asks them to follow him, and as he is on a physical journey to Jerusalem, he wants them to journey with him—not just hang out for a little while.
Jesus’ journey was physical but also spiritual. Likewise, his invitation to follow him was and still is also spiritual—an invitation to intense, heart-rendering transformation.
As those who claim to be followers of Christ, we should not wait until we have settled our lives to turn our hearts towards Christ. We may not all be called to lay down our jobs or family responsibilities, but we all are called to follow God right now despite whatever burdens we carry.
Prayer
Jesus Christ, our Lord and our God, you invite us to commit to you, each according to our capacity. Help us to embrace the opportunity to commit to you with all our hearts. Grant us the trust needed to follow you unreservedly that we may set all fear aside and enter into your joy. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Josemaria Escriva is known for founding Opus Dei, an organization of Catholics who seek holiness in daily life.
He was born in Spain in 1902 to a devout family. He had five siblings, but three of his sisters died as infants. His father owned a small business but struggled to stay afloat and finally filed for bankruptcy. These misfortunes seemed to have matured Josemaria at an early age.
As a teenager, he once discovered the footprints a monk left behind in the snow—the image struck him and awoke within him a desire to become a priest. He entered the seminary and was ordained in 1925.
In 1927, Josemaria moved to Madrid to begin graduate study in civil law. Because his father had died three years prior, his mother, sister, and brother joined him—Josemaria was the family provider and supported them by tutoring other law students.
During this time, he also took on pastoral care for people who were sick or poor, as well as manual laborers in Madrid. University students who came to know him joined him in this work. When he was on retreat in 1928, it became clear to him that he should formalize this way of life and organize a Catholic community under the name Opus Dei, or “work of God.”
The community included clergy and laypeople, married and single people, men and women. It involved people from all walks of life in the effort to follow Jesus and seek holiness in their daily experience. The idea of Opus Dei was not to find holiness by escaping the world, as monks did, but by entering it more deeply and sanctifying it in the way members fulfill their responsibilities in their occupations and families and communities.
Josemaria’s work was interrupted by the Spanish Civil War, which began in 1936 and included a violent persecution of the Catholic Church. Many priests were killed, but Josemaria escaped into a safe region of Spain. When the war ended in 1939, he returned to Madrid and finished his law degree. He began spreading the work of Opus Dei and gave many retreats for laypeople, religious, and clergy.
Opus Dei began spreading through Spain, and after World War II it became an international organization. Members established institutions to serve the Church and society, such as hospitals and schools. It was formally approved by the Vatican in 1950 and today claims more than 80,000 members in more than 60 countries.
Josemaria moved to Rome to assist the growing international expansion of Opus Dei and to be a part of the conversation that was changing the Church in the era of the Second Vatican Council. He died on this date in 1975, and was canonized in 2002 after a miracle was confirmed in which a surgeon’s hands were healed from a career-ending disease through his intercession.
“With supernatural intuition, Blessed Josemaria untiringly preached the universal call to holiness,” said Pope St. John Paul II in his homily at the beatification of St. Josemaria. “Christ calls everyone to become holy in the realities of everyday life. Hence, work, too, is a means of personal holiness and apostolate, when it is done in union with Jesus Christ.”
The illustration above of St. Josemaria Escriva was created by Matthew Alderman '06 and is used here with his permission. The photograph is used here with permission from Catholic.org.
St. Josemaria Escriva, you founded Opus Dei and helped Christians find holiness in everyday life—pray for us!