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The
Freedom of Decision
To
make a decision is to tie one's self down, to commit one's self. This
can be seen as a curtailment of freedom. It can also be the achievement
of freedom.
We
see this in the life of Dr. Victor Frankl, the psychiatrist who spent
three years in the concentration camps of Auschwich and Dachau during
the time of Hitler. As a doctor he spent a lot of time tending to sick
and dying camp inmates. Near the end of the war he and a companion devised
a way of escaping from the camp. He began to collect his few possessions
and prepare to leave. Then he took a last look at his patients as they
lay on wooden planks in a long cold hut. He came to a dying man from
his own country. This man seemed to guess that Frankl was leaving and
said to him in a tired sad voice, "so you are getting out?"
The
doctor tried to deny his plan but the words, "so you are getting
out?" cut him and accused him. He took another look at the man
who greeted him with eyes full of despair. He felt he was betraying
him and all the sick. He then saw clearly what he should do. He went
out of the hut and told his companion to leave without him. He would
stay with his patients. At once the unhappy feeling of betrayal left
him and he gained an inner peace such as he had never experienced before.
He survived the war and later was to write about the importance of meaning
and commitment. Those who survived the atrocities best, he said, were
those who had a deep commitment somewhere that gave them something to
live for.
In
today's Gospel we see a turning point in the life of Jesus. He makes
a decision, a commitment, and sets his face towards Jerusalem, the place
where he is eventually going to be crucified. From now on in the Gospel
we hear little about miracles. We will hear many strong parables that
challenge the people to change their attitudes. Jesus immediately runs
into difficulties. The Samaritan people will not accept him as he is
facing towards Jerusalem and the people there whom they consider to
be enemies. Seeing this, James and John ask Jesus to call down fire
and brimstone from heaven to burn up those who would not receive them.
Of course, Jesus would not use power for his own personal revenge. It
is interesting that it is John, later to be known as the beloved disciple
and the great teacher of love, who made this request.
Then
come three disciples who want to make a commitment to follow him.
The first he warns, "foxes have holes and birds have nests but
the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head." The second asked to
fulfill his family duty to bury his father but Jesus answered harshly,
"let the dead bury their dead: as for you, leave them and proclaim
the kingdom." The third said, "first let me say good-bye to
my family." Jesus said to him, "whoever has put his hand to
the plow and looks back is not fit for the Kingdom of God."
With the starkness characteristic of the Gospels Jesus is saying that
a decision to follow him will cost a lot. But this cost earns the kingdom.
Jesus himself pays the cost and for that reason has the authority from
which to ask us to follow him. The most central commitments that most
of us have to make are marriage or the celibate life. They also often
mean leaving home and having a new priority that is higher than family
ties. If the commitment is clearly made and the consequences are accepted,
the person will deal more easily with the crises that arise. But if
a person has a foot in both camps, keeps one's options open, "I
will give it a try but get out if it gets difficult," their capacity
to travel the desert of disillusionment that is the necessary path to
depth of relationship with a spouse or with the Lord, will be found
lacking. This lack of commitment leads to compromise and to the greater
pain of infidelity.
Commitment
to prayer can also be difficult. It is especially difficult if we think
that prayer is just for asking for our own needs. We will often feel
that our petitions have been ignored. But prayer is a commitment to
follow the Lord wherever he leads one. The difficulty in following often
comes from the resistance within us because of our expectation of where
the road of prayer should take us. Many feel that prayer should lead
them to exemption from suffering and feel resentment when difficulties
come. Meditation is a way of prayer in which there is no expectation.
We try to be still in God's presence but have no idea of what will happen
when in that presence. It takes courage to make that commitment but
once it has been made, it is easier to continue in it.
TOP
Taken
from Sundays into Silence - A Pathway to Life.
Copyright © 1998 by Claretian Publications
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Sundays
into Silence
A Pathway to Life
by Gerry Pierse, cssr
380
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“The
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reflections on the gospel readings for year A, B, and C of the liturgical
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the word can bear fruit in service and sacrament.” (R. J. Cardinal
Vidal)
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