Word to the Wise
Monday, July 15, 2019 - Monday in the 15th Week in Ordinary Time
[Exod 1:8-14, 22 and Matt 10:34—11:1]"Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me." [Matthew]
JULY 15, ST. BONAVENTURE, ofm bishop and doctor of the church
When I was in initial formation to become a Dominican friar/priest, two works of art had a strong influence on how I viewed the Gospel According to Matthew. The first work was the book THE COST OF DISCIPLESHIP by the Lutheran pastor/theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer. The second work was the movie entitled THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW, directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini. Each of these works left me wondering if I could ever live up to the demands of discipleship as represented in this gospel.
Bonhoeffer, who was martyred by the Nazis in the last days of Word War II, warns about "cheap grace!" A comfortable, domesticated Christianity, for him, was no Christianity at all. He made the demands of Jesus' missionary discourse to the disciples very clear and very challenging. I think the book is still in print and well worth reading.
Pasolini's movie presented a Jesus who was blunt and direct - not the soft, dewy-eyed portrait that we often see in popular religious art. Yet, the Jesus of the movie also showed a personality that had a strange magnetic power. It was the very strength of his demands that drew people to him. I have often found that the very demanding quality of this portrait is also very attractive to today's young Christians on campus. There is little room for compromise.
In reading today's passage from Matthew we are challenged about the compromises we make in order to make Christianity easier to stomach. Have we created a Christianity of our own design because Jesus is "too much" for us?Jesus demands that we put him and his message FIRST, and everything else comes after that. Were those first disciples any better than we are at responding? Probably not. But for some of them it was worth their life. Is it worth ours? AMEN
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