The Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head
Luke 9:57-62
In today's gospel we are taught about the cost of following Jesus through his answer to three men. To the first who expressed his desire to follow him Jesus answers with a parable to the effect that he must be willing to give up the comfort of a home and live like a wander like Jesus. To a second who is called and would like to respond only after his father is dead and buried Jesus answers that the man must act immediately and respond to the call to discipleship, and not look back on family ties. He must "let the dead bury the dead." To a third who wanted to say farewell to his family first, Jesus said that no one who has laid his hand on a plough looks back, otherwise the line becomes crooked.
In other words, to be a disciple of Jesus requires renunciation of possessions, of families and indeed of self, if these come in the way of the call. Today's gospel text reminds us of another passage in which Jesus lays down the conditions for following him: "Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." (Matthew 10:37).
What Jesus asks of his followers he has undertaken himself. Although he was Son he learnt to obey through suffering (Hebrews 5:8). He had to leave the comfort of heaven to take on human frailty. He had to leave the security of his home at Nazareth and the warmth of a mother's love to start his mission in the harsh and hostile world.
God gives us a definitive call, whether to priesthood, religious life or married life. But God continuously calls each within any of these calls. He calls us in the work we must do, in the encounter with other people, in the daily challenges of life. In each situation there is the right choice to make which corresponds to God’s call, and which often is not the easier choice. Like in the initial call, when we hear the voice of God, we must not harden our hearts (cf. Hebrews 3:15); we must not hesitate.
Those who have had the courage to follow Jesus unconditionally also know that the harshness of the conditions of discipleship is only apparent; that, these conditions liberate a person to follow Jesus unencumbered. Moreover, any sacrifice made in the service of God is never really lost, for God is the source of all that is good, including that which we must renounce in order to follow him. The apparent loss is the wisdom of the man who discovered a treasure, sold all he had to buy the field, and thus regain all that is lost and much more (cf. Matthew 13:44).
