No stop at the Samaritan town

The Gospel of the Evangelist Luke in the texts of the Roman Catholic Lectionary today recounts Jesus turning point in His journey to the cross to leave Galilee and “set His face” toward Jerusalem. The passage from the Hebrew Testament prepares and foreshadows the decision to answer the call with resolute action. Father Larry Gillick SJ notes that God keeps the Prophet Elijah very busy in Chapter 19 of the first Books of Kings. This business is not unlike the lives that many experience today. God wants Elijah to anoint Elisha as the successor to the great Prophet. The description of the encounter where Elijah throws his cloak, the prophetic garment, over Elisha is, according to Father Larry, a sign of taking possession. The chosen successor is a wealthy young man with twelve yoke of oxen who is now presented with a deep decision. Our decision for love is the vocation experience of our lives. When we need to respond to being taken possession by Love, our response is unpredictable. Elisha knows at least two things which we also experience. The call is for the pattern of his life to change and a decision is required. Friar JudeWinkler notes that Elisa commits to accepting the change by slaughtering the oxen and boiling the flesh. Things will never be the same again. We voice our acknowledgement of this change in our “Yes” or “I do” as we respond to the call of vocation. Paul addresses the Galatians about the nature of our call to live in freedom as disciples of Jesus. The aspect of freedom in the rituals of vocational calling is essential. We make a free choice. The concupiscence of the human person, identified by Thomas Aquinas, to pursue our passions and desires is presented by Paul as movement of the flesh contrary to the Spirit of God which directs us toward the Divine and others and away from satisfaction of our own self serving passions. Friar Jude suggests that the penitential life style is an essential practice when we set our face on our vocational journey. This life style practices denial of self so that it can become our habit. Through the penitential preparation, we are able to respond first for others and only after moving toward the other, might we be tempted to recall our passions as second choice. The response of James and John to the rejection of Jesus in the Samaritan town because of His direction to Jerusalem might be avoided through practice of empathy for the other and attempting to be in their shoes before we jump to the decision of our passion for power, privilege or prestige. Father Larry shares the advice he gives to those involved in discerning ministry in the Church that ministry is what we learn as we deal with the events of life and the interruptions of preparing for ministry. The apparent harshness of Jesus with the potential disciple who seeks to bury his father is seen in a slightly different light when Friar Jude explains the burial custom among theJews for a son to be 12 months in a process of respect for the deceased father which began after the burial which in Jewish practice occurs as soon as possible after death. This potential disciple is not seeking to follow Jesus now, but to think about it for 12 months. The life changing vocation decision is not what this person is considering. This is not a “set your face” for the life journey of Love moment. Our “I do” for the life journey has the strength of no turning back in the commitment of ourselves.