Twenty-Third Ordinary Sunday, Cycle C

The Tower and The Army

Wis 9:13-18b
Phmn 9-10,12-17
Lk 14:25-33


A few years ago, I was at a reception after the ordination of one my diocesan brothers. It was a happy occasion and a good opportunity to meet lots of old friends and family of friends. And I was having a conversation with one particular woman, talking about my life as a seminarian and sharing a little bit about myself. I mentioned that my parents emigrated here from Taiwan and that I was born and raised in Dallas and we never moved since. The woman, perhaps reflecting upon her own children and what would be her fate in the future, happily exclaimed that it was good that I would be in the same place where my parents lived and I could visit them often. I, in my nervousness and in an attempt to show off how well I knew scripture said, “Whoever comes to me without hating his father and mother… cannot be my disciple.” I immediately realized that I had probably scandalized this poor woman and probably lost any support in her sons being priests in the future.


So what does this scripture passage really mean for us? Why does Jesus, the savior of the world, tell his followers that they must hate their father, mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters? Why does he go to such an extreme? And how are we to respond to that? I think another seminarian put it best when he said that the Bible is like one of those iTunes license agreements where everyone just skips down to the end and clicks on “Agree” having really no idea what they are getting themselves into. What ARE we getting ourselves into?


The situation running behind St Paul’s Letter to Philemon is a unique one in the scriptures. Put simply, Onesimus is a runaway slave and has found the faith as he cared for Paul in prison. Paul writes this letter urging Philemon, a professed Christian, to free Onesimus from slavery and to treat him as a brother. Let us take a perhaps deeper look at this passage, one that would be more pertinent for us today. In particular when Paul writes, “I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, more than a slave, a brother…”. What if you received a letter from God saying something like that? God does not force our hand in anything; he invites and gives us an opportunity to commune with him. “…I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary.” This passage is so beautiful in that God loves us so much that he desires for us to choose him freely. And not only that, he realizes that at times it is not Onesimus, the slave, that is away from us, but rather that we have sent our Lord Jesus Christ away from us. He was serving us and loving us and we sent him away to be crucified, but we also know that absence makes the heart grow fonder; we truly miss him and need him. And so again, God the Father sends his Son Jesus Christ to us so that we can welcome him back, not as one whom we sent away and crucified, but as a brother that is especially loved by the Father. How beautiful is that?


Don’t worry…I haven’t forgotten our difficult Gospel. As we cherish the depth of how God calls us through Paul’s Letter, let us reflect upon what Jesus’ words in the Gospel. The radical message of going so far as to hate your family and your own life in order to follow Christ, is not taken to be literally; but at times this has been the case, not by volition, but rather by circumstance. Though I have had the blessing of my family supporting my vocation, I know quite a few people who have had to reject their family’s wishes in order to pursue the religious vocation. I know people whose family has been torn apart because of the faith. This happens more than we realize and yet I believe that we are justified in pursuing the One we love. However, this does not mean that all charity goes out the window. Jesus does not call us to purposely call our parents just to yell at them. No, your faith requires you to act with love and charity.


What is particularly interesting in the Gospel are the two examples that Jesus gives that does not seem to fit the first part of his message. Where the first part seems to refer to having zeal in being a disciple and the second seems to be talking about logistics: How much money and resources do I need to build this tower or that house? How many troops do I have and what kind of supplies do I have? Can I build this tower? Can I win this war? What does being a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ, have to do with charging into battle or building tower defenses? Perhaps our Church has some wisdom in calling us here on earth: the Church Militant, ready to hate and fight right? building defense, going to war? But let us first “sit down” and take another look before we run off and grabs our guns.

In these two analogies, I see that we are indeed preparing for a battle, but not one of a physical nature, but a spiritual one. The tower that we are to build is for defense, yes, but more so to guard our hearts against temptation and evil. The beautiful words of St. Paul telling us to receive the faith given to us and to believe in the Gospel, spurs a zeal to get into the fight right away and take on the world. But the tower the Jesus speaks of building is one of a spiritual fortress. What is our foundation and what are our building materials? A life filled with the Sacraments, intellectual studies, and a life of deep prayer. Our First Reading from Wisdom tells us of the Holy Spirit, sent to us as counselor. We don’t know God’s intentions and what his plans are, but we keep fast to him and the things that are above. The Psalm today reads, “In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.” We hide in him and go to him for safety, for defense against evils in the world. He is our rock and fortress; and we do not build those towers standing by themselves but within the fortress of God’s Kingdom on earth, the Catholic Church. Therefore, Jesus is telling us what we have to do to build this fortress properly. Our lives must be in proper order: fueled by an incredible zeal to do the Lord’s bidding, we must pace ourselves so that the tower we build is complete and sturdy; so that we can house the Holy Spirit in us.


And what of the king marching into battle? It does no good for us in this world as it stands to stay in our towers for the rest of our lives. We have good news to share and evils to fight. After we build our towers, our defenses, we go to war!!! It’s time to fight back, we go on the offensive!!! That is not to say that we should BE offensive to other people, but that we go to evangelize, spread the Gospel, and expand the Kingdom of God that is already upon us. The enemy is out there; whether it’s non-believers and unbelievers, corruption, materialism, injustice, or the devil himself, the enemy is out there in the world. We must prepare physically, intellectually, and most importantly spiritually. The time and resources building the army of evangelization is not unlike the time and resources spent on building the tower of spiritual refuge. Both require a zeal tempered by prudence and right judgment, the Holy Spirit of Wisdom.


In conclusion, St. Paul presents a hopeful message of beginning a new life with Christ and with that kindled zeal, we set out to the Lord’s bidding. We ask for the Holy Spirit to guide us in prudence and wisdom. We want to build a tower of refuge and an army of evangelization and we cannot do so without seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit, having a deep spiritual life of prayer, and desiring an intimate relationship with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament who feeds us and sustains us in the coming days.