Job 9:1-13, 14-16 / Luke 9:57-62
Job speaks about God: God is beyond our
comprehension.
The God who emerges from the Book
of Job is a God beyond human comprehension.
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Who am I to understand God? If one says: I understand God,
it is no more God what he says he understood. God rewards every one according
to his deeds. But: Does he? Is that correct? Job answers: 1. God is always
right. 2. God is immensely great. 3. God plays. His game is a cosmic game. It
is like every game: capricious. What God does is beyond human understanding.
Just believe. 4. God is the cause of it all
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How do we think about God in our prayer? "God is
that indefinable something which we all feel, but which we do not know."
Mohandas Gandhi
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As much as the book of Job presents God as beyond our human
comprehension Jesus in today's gospel demands of a discipleship way beyond our
human comprehension. Our initial reaction would be: How could Jesus be so
demanding and unreasonable? But when we reflect deeper, we will understand the
purpose of Jesus. Jesus is asking for an instant response to His call. There
can be no hesitation; all else must be put aside. He is asking us to put Him as
top priority.
In every situation that we are going to come across, the same question will be
asked: Do you want to follow Me? Now?
An immediate response will be demanding of us. But when we are surrender
totally to Him and make an immediate response, Jesus will never short-change
us, for He will also be immediate in responding to our needs and whatever we require
to follow Him. When Jesus calls, may we respond immediately. Because when we
call out to Him, He too will respond immediately. That is not too difficult to
comprehend.
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Three enthusiastic young men want to follow Jesus, not only
for the journey, but for life. All three have a difficulty; basically all three
have the same difficulty: that of giving up family life. The first yearns for
the comfortable home. He needs a hole to hide in and the warmth of the nest to
return to. The second wants to come only when his father is dead. It may well
be his moral obligation to look after the family once the father is dead.
Jesus worked in his family till he was thirty, but he also said: I must be
about my Father's business, where he meant God's work. When God calls, man must
listen. Relatives often find difficulties when a member of the family has a
vocation. The third man is sentimentally attached to the family. Some never
leave home emotionally. "You cannot
Let us Pray:
God our Father, we have accepted your invitation to follow your Son as
his disciples. Let your Spirit give us the wisdom and the strength to take our
faith seriously and to accept our task in life with all its consequences. Let
the Spirit help us to go your Son’s way without fear or discouragement, for we
are certain that Jesus will lead us to you, our loving God for ever and ever.
