I will follow you wherever you go. Together with the unnamed individual whom we encounter in our gospel reading today, this is what we told Jesus the day we were baptized, and it still remains our response should Jesus ask us how far we are willing to go. Following Jesus all the way is the call that each baptized man and woman has responded to. There is no turning back once a resolve has been made to follow Jesus, for “he/she who turns his/her back on me was not fit to follow me in the first place ,” says Jesus. It is a tough call to respond to, a tough journey that requires some serious deliberation before one embarks upon it (cf. Luke 14:28-33). But what is it about the following of Jesus that makes it such a demanding endeavor?
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” Following Jesus requires setting oneself free from any and all restrictions (the freedom that St. Paul talks about in his letter to the Galatians). To a follower of Jesus, there are no holds barred when it comes to mission. The entire world becomes both a disciple’s pastoral field and home. Like Jesus, a disciple’s life is lived for the other. Everything that a disciple has is put at the disposal of mission and for the good of the other. Nothing is to come between a follower of Jesus and the proclamation of the kingdom of God. Not even the family.
“Let the dead bury their dead,” responds Jesus to the individual who wanted to be given a “time-out” so that he could go bury his father. Once Jesus comes calling, there should be no delay in responding (it should, however, be noted that Jesus was not insinuating that we cease to care about our families once we become disciples. If that were the case, he would have not entrusted the care of his mother to the beloved disciple [cf. John 19:26-27]). Rather, Jesus’ ‘blunt language’ was meant to get our attention, to call us to reflect deeply about our resolve to follow him in order to ask ourselves:
What is it in my life that has become a hindrance in my proclamation of the kingdom? As a disciple of Christ, what are my priorities? Am I fully committed to exercising my ministry as a baptized member of my community?