Carrying the Cross of Christ

In this Sunday's Gospel (Luke 14:25-33), Jesus begins with some challenging words.

He says;

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.

Jesus gives a very strong and uncompromising call to discipleship. Following Jesus, requires a radical commitment to him which is above all other commitments in our life. He does not really want us to hate our parents, but Jesus wants us to understand that he is above our family commitments. Our commitment to him even is above the preservation of our life in face of persecution for the faith. In imitation of him, it involves carrying the cross. Jesus' words are not a metaphor, though we can carry crosses in lesser ways.

The word disciple means to be an apprentice of the master or rabbi. Following the master as a disciple, meant more than just learning a few essential truths about the faith, it meant to literally imitate the master's life as well. We cannot treat our faith like McDonalds fries. Would you like faith with that?  Being a disciple means more than passively jumping on the tourist bus to ride along with Jesus, and getting off at various stops to tour the sights.

We might think about the call that Jesus gave to his first disciples. The call to be a disciple demanded a radical change of life, and a complete commitment of our heart. In fact it cost everything!

As Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he called out to the fishermen Peter and Andrew saying, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” The two men “At once they left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:19-20).

The call to discipleship required a radical drop-your-nets-and-follow decision. This was a decision to put Jesus at the very center of their life. To set aside all other priorities and make Jesus first. This does not remove the disciple from daily life, but our “yes” to Jesus, changes everything about their life.

The fathers of the Second Vatican Council characterized the “breach between faith and daily life” as “one of the more serious errors of our time” (GS 43). “Let there be no false opposition,” they admonish us “between professional and social activity and the life of religion.  The Christian who neglects his temporal duties neglects God and risks his eternal salvation” (GS 43). Faith can never be a personal and private matter that does not affect our entire life.

During the Nazi occupation of Germany, a Protestant minister named Dietrich Bonhoeffer complained about this very issue.  Bonhoeffer contrasted what he termed ‘cheap grace’ or a failure to live the fullness of faith through our life with ‘costly grace.’  His courageous defense of uncompromising faith eventually led to his martyrdom. He wrote,

Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, [and] grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Today we might hear someone say, “I am spiritual but not religious.” They might proclaim, “My faith is personal and private, but I don’t need religion, or the church.” While we support the freedom of each person to follow their own conscience, exalting our own personal and private faith is not following Jesus. Jesus reminds his disciples, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” Discipleship involves imitating the master, and following him.

In our Gospel last week (Luke 14:1, 7-14) Jesus reminded his followers, “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”  The key to humility is the recognition that everything we have is from God and a willingness to submit ourselves to his divine will. We need this kind of humility to begin our journey as a disciple. As Jesus says in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3). St. Gregory of Nyssa asks, "Would you like to know who it is that is poor in spirit?" He notes,

​ ​It is the one who has given the riches of the soul in exchange for material wealth, this is the one who is poor for the sake of the spirit.^[1]

In the end, it is actually our heart, or our will which is a stake, rather than our possessions. But the things of this world weigh us down. St. Gregory of Nyssa notes,

“Gold is a heavy thing, and heavy is every kind of matter that is sought after for the sake of wealth—but virtue is light and bears souls upwards.”^[2]

This is why Jesus says,

“In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Above all Jesus wants the full commitment of our hearts, the submission of all things to him. As the apostle James reminds us, “For that person must not suppose that a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways, will receive anything from the Lord” (James 1:8, RSVCE).

Today as we consider these words of Jesus anew, let us humble ourselves before him, and take up our cross and follow him.

 

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^[1] St. Gregory of Nyssa, “The Beatitudes,” in St. Gregory of Nyssa: The Lord’s Prayer, The Beatitudes, ed. Johannes Quasten and Joseph C. Plumpe, trans. Hilda C. Graef, vol. 18, Ancient Christian Writers (New York; Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1954), 95. I have revised the quoted translation which is “Would you like to know who it is that is poor in spirit? He who is given the riches of the soul in exchange for material wealth, who is poor for the sake of the spirit”

^[2] Ibid., 95.

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For Every One Who Exalts Himself Will Be Humbled

In our Gospel (Luke 14:1, 7-14) Jesus attends meal at the “home of one of the leading Pharisees.” We are told that Jesus was “observing him carefully.” Jesus tells this parable because he noticed “how they were choosing the places of honor at the table.”

In Jewish culture a high value was placed on notions of honor and shame. At the time of Jesus, it seems social dignity was not based one’s age, but one’s social standing. Those with the highest social standing would be seated nearest to the host. The parable assumes a certain freedom to choose a seat. Those of higher social standing would think it was their right to sit near the host. This choice reveals something about the heart of the one making this choice. Those who seated themselves closer to the host reveal a desire to exalt themselves and to be noticed by others. Such behavior is not consistent with the values of the kingdom. Instead, in imitation of our Lord we should desire to be a servant and to take the lowest place.

As Jesus will say later in the Gospel,

“For which is the greater, one who sits at table, or one who serves? Is it not the one who sits at table? But I am among you as one who serves” (Luke 22:27).

Jesus summarizes, “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Lk 14:11).

Like many other passages of scripture, this parable promotes the virtue of humility or restraining ourselves from aiming at great things against the workings of right reason.

In a culture which glorifies self-esteem, and a world which lauds those who pursue the dream of fame, power and financial gain, is it reasonable to consider yourself lowly and worthless?  Or even further to live your life in a way which refrains from things which are exalted, from ambition, and from the desire for a high position in the world?

At the very least such a life is very counterintuitive. We might add to this the fear that a life of humility will not lead to happiness. Yet, how many of us have met people who have achieved fame and riches, who in modern parlance are “living the life,” yet we are quick to recognize they are also the unhappiest people we have ever met?

A virtue is a disposition to act a certain way. For Christians, the cardinal virtues of temperance, justice, prudence, and fortitude are enlivened by the supernatural virtues of faith, hope and charity. The virtue of humility is a kind of helping virtue related to hope.

The basic idea of humility would seem to be to view yourself as lowly and worthless. This can occur involuntarily when one is cast down or demoted by another, as a punishment. This occurs in Jesus’ parable when the presumptuous person is moved to a lower place. The virtue of humility can also be a voluntary act. We can reflect on our own failings, and assume the lowest place in response. St. Thomas gives the basic definition for the virtue of humility, as conveying the notion of a praiseworthy self-abasement to the lowest place.” (STh., II-II q.161 a.1 ad 2).

Humility moderates the actions of our passions or emotional desires in relation to the good. We can experience both things which are attractive to our appetite causing us to hope, and things which repel our passions because of the difficulty in obtaining them, which may cause despair. (STh., II-II q. 161).

There are actually two virtues at work in relation to our desire for the good: humility and magnanimity.

St. Thomas notes, “Humility restrains the appetite from aiming at great things against right reason: while magnanimity urges the mind to great things in accord with right reason.” Humility is a moderating and restraining moral virtue, while magnanimity is moral virtue which strengthens it and urges it on.

Yet how do we know if we are thinking rightly about these things? What constitutes the use of  “right reason”? Does the requirement of humility to view yourself as lowly and worthless, cause us to abandon our intuitions toward a healthy self-esteem.

The correct use of this virtue would not be to imitate a garden worm crawling in the dirt! St. Teresa in her, Interior Castle, describes us as miserable worms^[i] who are clearly unworthy of the greatness God has bestowed upon us. She has in mind, however, caterpillars who later transform into butterflies! Yes, we remain unworthy.  Even though we truly are unworthy, we are also children of God who receive his gifts. Both of these are true at the same time.

St. Thomas urges us to use reason to consider all of our strengths and weaknesses and to consider their true origin. We can observes what God has given us, and what we have contributed. (Summa Theol., II-II, q. 161, a. 8, corp.)

On God’s side of the equation are our creation as rational beings, our supernaturalization by grace, and our redemption, but unfortunately on our side is only our sin and deficiencies. The source of all our excellence and glory is God. The truth is, if we are stripped of God’s divine plumage, what is left? We have received everything as a gift, even life itself.

How should we respond to this?

First we need to acknowledge that this is true, and then we need to employ this truth as a practical principle in daily life. We must be willing to remain in the place God has allotted to us in his divine providence, and then to diligently make use of the talents God has bestowed upon us. Notice that the adverb humbly could be added to these actions. To humbly acknowledge, to humbly employ…

The essence of true humility is docility and the subjection of our will to divine Providence. It fundamentally involves a type of self-knowledge, concerning who we are, and the source of all our goodness. St. Josemaría Escrivá notes, “Self-knowledge leads us by the hand, as it were, to humility.” (The Way, 60). Humility restrains our soul from either exceeding or falling below the measure of natural and supernatural gifts which God has bestowed upon us.

Humility is the moderate and reasonable seeking of one's own excellence. It would be false humility to not acknowledge the gifts and talents God has given us. While we must truthfully acknowledge our natural and supernatural strengths, we also remain aware that we will always remain unworthy and that God is the source of all our goodness.

This leads to a full definition; “Humility is the moral virtue by which a person, considering his deficiency, holds himself to what is low according to his measure, out of subjection to God.”^[v]

It is fairly easy to see how the process of gaining humility leads to an awareness of personal sin (CCC 1848) brought about through the prior work of the Holy Spirit (John Paul II, DeV 31 § 2) and a new saving awareness of the gift of redemption that God has offered us. In fact this is a prerequisite for conversion. In the National Directory of Catechesis our bishops note that conversion is,

“the acceptance of a personal relationship with Christ, a sincere adherence to him, and a willingness to conform one's life to his. Conversion to Christ involves making a genuine commitment to him and a personal decision to follow him as his disciple” (NDC, p. 46).

Clearly conversion is most fundamentally about the subjection of our heart, our desires and our will to God. It is a new awareness and reverence for God in our life. It is a genuine commitment to God and a personal decision to follow Jesus as his disciple. It leads to friendship with God.

It is these notions of subjection to God and reverence for God which leads many saints to see the virtue of humility as the gateway, along with detachment from earthly things, to the interior life.

St. Teresa calls humility the ointment of our souls,

“But as we have not yet arrived at this point, let us (as I said) acquire humility, sisters, for this is the ointment of our souls; and if we possess this virtue, the physician, who is God, will come and heal us, though he may delay a little.”^[vi]

St. Teresa notes that we cannot advance in the interior life without humility.  “Humility is that virtue by which our Lord suffers Himself to be overcome, and to grant us whatever we desire of Him. The first mark by which you may discover whether you possess this virtue is, to think yourselves unworthy of these favors and delights from our Lord…”^[vii]

Humility does not come to us in a vacuum. The journey begins with a relationship with God. We cannot advance without spending time with him. There is a kind of prior assumption to all the literature on growth in the interior life. Whether they are the Desert Fathers, or the early Franciscans, or the monks at the Abbey of St. Victor, it was taken for granted that time was being spent in personal prayer and meditation on the Sacred Scripture. This was for the novice. It was the beginning.

If humility is the pearl of great price, the one thing we need more than all else in our walk with the Lord, then each one of us should examine our hearts. I don’t know about you but as I look within my own soul, I have a long journey ahead. 

Recently the Church canonized, St. Josemaría Escrivá. During his lifetime he wrote a very powerful Examination of Conscience for Humility which is worth praying through.   

An Examination of Conscience for Humility

St. Josemaría Escrivá, The Furrow, 609

Allow me to remind you that among other evident signs of a lack of humility are:
—Thinking that what you do or say is better than what others do or say;
—Always wanting to get your own way;
—Arguing when you are not right or — when you are — insisting stubbornly or with bad manners;
—Giving your opinion without being asked for it, when charity does not demand you to do so;
—Despising the point of view of others;
—Not being aware that all the gifts and qualities you have are on loan;
—Not acknowledging that you are unworthy of all honor or esteem, even the ground you are treading on or the things you own;
—Mentioning yourself as an example in conversation;
—Speaking badly about yourself, so that they may form a good opinion of you, or contradict you;
—Making excuses when rebuked;
—Hiding some humiliating faults from your director, so that he may not lose the good opinion he has of you;
—Hearing praise with satisfaction, or being glad that others have spoken well of you;
—Being hurt that others are held in greater esteem than you;
—Refusing to carry out menial tasks;
—Seeking or wanting to be singled out;
—Letting drop words of self-praise in conversation, or words that might show your honesty, your wit or skill, your professional prestige...;
—Being ashamed of not having certain possessions...

 

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^[i] Saint Teresa of Ávila and John Dalton, The Interior Castle (London: T. Jones, 1852), 3, 118, 120.

^[ii] Fr. Sebastian Carlson, OP, “The Virtue of Humility” The Thomist, April, 1944 Vol. VII, No.2, p. 137.

^[iii] Ibid., p. 140.

^[iv] Ibid., p. 150

^[v] Idid., p 152.

^[vi] Saint Teresa of Ávila and John Dalton, The Interior Castle (London: T. Jones, 1852), p. 35.

^[vii] Ibid., p. 36.

  

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A Sign of Contradiction

For many people, their mental picture of Jesus is one of a very mild person and someone who never challenges anyone or rejects anyone. It is certainly true that Jesus constantly reached out those who were outside the social click of respectability. He was a friend of sinners. This characterization would not give us the whole picture, however, the same Jesus we see in the Gospels often had harsh things to say to judgmental religious people of his day.

Jesus’ words in this Gospel begin, “I have come.” This expression brings a sense of mission to what follows. Elsewhere “the one who is coming” is a designation for the long-awaited Messiah (cf. Luke 7:19–20). Earlier in our Gospel, John the Baptist's disciples are sent to ask Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:19). Jesus answers their question by pointing to his fulfillment of the coming of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 61, which is manifest in Jesus’ works and ministry among the people.

Jesus’ next words are anything but mild. He proclaims, "I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing!”

Fire is most often a sign of divine judgement in the Bible. It is destructive and sometimes purifies. Fire is a mixed metaphor, however, as sometimes it can be beneficial or even bring a comfort. In reference to messianic prophecies, John the Baptist promised that the one coming after him would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Luke 3:16).

Later in the Book of Acts, the Holy Spirit descends as a nondestructive fire at Pentecost (Acts 2:3) to bring blessing, and to advance the kingdom. This type of fire connected with the Holy Spirit is more like the presence of God in his glory, than in his judgement.

The difference between blessing and judgment may relate to how each heart is prepared to receive this fire. While the notion of fire may well continue to have the connotation of divine judgement, this judgment is taken up in the death of Jesus on the cross to produce mercy for those who respond to the good news.

Jesus continues “There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished!” Since Jesus has already been baptized by John the Baptist, he is not referring to normal baptism with water.

Instead, it is a clear reference to Jesus’ death. In Mark 10:38–39 Jesus repeats a similar saying and makes it clear he has his death in mind. Jesus’ death is a prototype of later Christian martyrdom or a baptism of blood.

This is how Jesus’ “baptism” by death was understood in Christian traditions beginning with Irenaeus in the late second century. Some have objected that this interpretation is too broad and is reading later traditions back into Jesus’ words, since Jesus is referring here to his own death. But as we see in Mark’s parallel (Mark 10:38–39) the apostles are invited to share in the same fate.

Another consideration is the interpretation of Jesus’s death by the earliest Christian traditions. St. Paul reminds the Romans:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. (RSVCE2, Romans 6:3-6, cf. Colossians 2:11-12).

Baptism is compared to Jesus dying and rising again. Our own Baptism results in our being united to Christ in his death, to being in Christ, and one with his body (Galatians 3:27). In Baptism all share in Christ’s death. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is also tied to Baptism (1 Corinthians 6:11; 12:13) but requires our cooperation through repentance and faith (Acts 2:38).

Jesus' final point is that the Gospel message will be a sign of contradiction in our world. Jesus asks,

Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth?
No, I tell you, but rather division.

Perhaps very surprising to some modern conceptions of Jesus, our Gospel says that Jesus has come to bring disunity or literally a word meaning “division into partisan and contentious units.” How can Jesus say this? Does he not come to bring us peace? It is not that God does not desire to bring us peace, but rather that only some will experience or receive the peace of Christ. Many will choose to reject the message and will not receive peace.

Earlier in Luke’s Gospel Jesus sends out the 72 disciples and instructs them, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace shall rest upon him; but if not, it shall return to you” (Luke 10:5–6). While the peace of Christ is available to all, many will reject it. It is our response to the Gospel that determines our peace.

The Jesus we see in the Gospels is not content to leave us to our own ideas, he challenges us. In his first words of public ministry he proclaims, “Repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15), or “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17). In Luke’s Gospel Jesus demonstrates his teaching with authority and power. The call to follow him results in the earliest apostles leaving everything and following him (Luke 5:11). Jesus message literally turns their lives upside down.

In our modern world, many Christians seem to think the highest Gospel value is being nice and not giving offence. We might even call this preaching the Gospel of Nice. In the name of cherished values such as accepting others and not being judgmental, we have made our highest modern value to not give offence. We should not risk challenging anyone to live differently that they desire to live following their unhampered freedom to do their own thing. We don't want to say anything that might cause someone else to be offended. Giving offence or triggering someone is a kind of new cardinal sin.

In such a world it is difficult to disagree with anyone or to have a civil conversation about differences without being cancelled as an antediluvian barbarian. There seems to be a great lack in the ability to engage in emotional regulation, to show empathy, to seek to understand. Instead, we angrily burn the bridges and cancel the other person in a flurry of name-calling.

How can we imitate Jesus in such a world?

Yes, we are to be loving, and gentle with our neighbor (Matthew 5:16, 1 Peter 3:15-16), no, we should not treat others in judgmental contempt (Matthew 7:1), but a faithful proclamation of the Gospel is a sign of contradiction which often results in rejection and suffering. Many times, it even results in martyrdom.

In this very Gospel Jesus warns us that we must put our faith above our allegiance to family and friends and be willing to be despised and rejected, just as Jesus was. Of course, not by being a meanspirited self-righteous religious person!

Yet, lovingly proclaiming the truth of the Gospel will often require each one of us to "take up his cross" and follow him (Luke 10:23). While Christ has come to offer each one of us personal peace, he has not promised “peace of earth,” but division. Jesus is a sign of contradiction in this world.

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