26thth Week in Ordinary Time
Jerome

1st Reading: Ne 2:1–8
Gospel: Lk 9:57–62
As Jesus and his disciples went on their way, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”
To another Jesus said, “Follow me.” But he answered, “Let me go back now, for first I want to bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their dead; as for you, leave them and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
Another said to him, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say goodbye to my family.” And Jesus said to him, “Whoever has put his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.”

Commentary
It is supposed to be good news, this thing called the gospel. But the gospel includes hard news, because that is what our gospel-reading contains today: some of what are often called the hard sayings of Jesus. They are called hard sayings, not so much because they are hard to understand, but because they are hard to hear. To the one who wished to say goodbye to his family before becoming a disciple, Jesus told him not even to think about it.
It is often a good idea to state a point in the extreme, in order to get it across to an audience. Jesus was, among other things, a very good teacher by stating his point in such a way as to make us take notice. We cannot help being startled by his suggestion that we have to turn our back on our immediate family in order to join the Christian family. But, Christ does not call us so that we might forget family, friends and those closest to us. Attached to the hard saying is the promise that, by living fully as a follower of Christ, we may trust in His love for us and for our families.

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