Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr Raymun Festin SVD – Loanda, Angola
Thursday 4th Week in Ordinary Time
Jesus is not only very demanding but also unreasonable. Having called the poor ragtag band of fishermen to be his disciples, he sends them two by two on a mission impossible with an instruction to “take nothing for the journey but a walking stick, no food, no sack, no money in their belts.”
What an unreasonable and hard master! Who would work for such an employer?
Of course, Jesus is not talking in the literal sense. He veils his message in a powerful and colorful allegory. The impracticality–or nonsensicality–of Jesus’s instruction suggests that he means something different or other (allos in Greek) than what he said (the infinitive to say in Greek is agoreuein). [The word allegory is a combination of these two Greek words: allos and agoreuein].
So what does Jesus mean with his allegory? To answer this, we may recall here one of the most momentous events in history.
Having navigated for a month the 300-mile treacherous seaway (now known as Magellan strait) that links the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean at the bottom of the Southern Hemisphere, Magellan and his crew were suddenly faced by a vast, blue, and serene ocean. Contemplating the awesome tranquility of the ocean stretching far and wide, Il Capitano—as the Italian Don Antonio Pigafetta wrote in his chronicles — uttered the word pacífico and wept.
Magellan and his famished crew were confronted with an existential choice—either to cross the unknown ocean and perhaps perish in that attempt,or turn back, refit the damaged ships, reload them with provisions, and then set sails again at a favorable opportunity.
Magellan’s crew wisely counseled him to do,latter. But Magellan ignored their advice; instead, he summarily gave the order to forge ahead into the unknown. With only three limping and leaking ships—led by the flagship Trinidad—they traversed the 12,600 mile stretch of the Pacific Ocean and encountered indescribable difficulties—the crew cursing their captain and swearing to the gods that the ocean was not all pacífico.
The crew must have thought, understandably, that their captain was not only unreasonable but crazy. But little did they know what was in Magellan’s mind. Little did they know that he was intuitively animated by a historic vision which should be realized at all costs—the circumnavigation of the earth. For the realization of that grand vision, Il Capitano was willing to endure unimaginable hardships, take on all risks and perils, face up mutinies from his crew, and gamble all in one decisive throw of the dice. In Magellan’s equation, everything else is relative to his vision.
Jesus, too, has a vision, the grandest vision of all—the proclamation of the Reign of God, the Reign of justice and peace, of love and forgiveness. Nothing is more important to Jesus than the realization of this great vision. Ranged against it, everything is secondary, minor, and relative. The preaching of God’s reign is the passion of Jesus, his dream, his mission, and his destiny around which the entire meaning of hs earthly existence revolves.
This explains why, when it comes to the preaching of the Reign of God, Jesus is always adamant, demanding, unreasonable, and in a hurry! And those whom he calls to follow him in that vision must also be willing to pursue it with a single-minded devotion and with an urgent sense of purpose—unwilling to compromise it for anything, ready to brave all forms of peril, endure any amount of pain and suffering, and disposed to give up everything for it.
As baptized Christians, we are called to follow the vision of Jesus. But how far can we go in giving up ourselves for the Reign of God? Just test yourself. If you are having a nice siesta, and somebody wakes you up and asks for help, how will you react? And how far will you be willing to go out of your way to help that person?
If you are a Christian, be prepared to be inconvenienced and bothered—all the time.
