Fools For Christ

A Reflection on this Friday’s Gospel from Luke 8:1-3 - 20 September 2024

      As a child my family lived near the Cornell University Ornithology Lab. I was about ten years old. My brothers and I loved to wander the birding trails that surrounded the Ornithology Lab. Unfortunately, my younger brother and I spent more time scaring the wildlife away. My older brother, however, really got into birding. He would joyfully spend hours watching for and logging different birds as he moved along the trails with notebook and binoculars in hand.

     One day my grandfather came to visit and asked my older brother what he wanted to be when he grew up. My brother quickly replied; “an Ornithologist!” My grandfather smiled and jokingly replied that if he wanted to be an Ornithologist, he may need to find a paying job so that he could support his passion. It would be foolish not to. My older brother took him at his word. My brother became a dentist, but his passion has always been about wild birds. For him it was a vocation.

     I once heard it said that a job is something you are paid to do, a vocation is a calling which one is passionate about. Passion comes from the Latin word “passio” meaning to suffer or endure. A vocation is something for which you will joyfully suffer and endure any and every hardship. A salary is perhaps necessary but, not the driving consideration. It is in your vocation that you find true meaning and joy.

     A religious vocation is a divine gift. Jesus tells the disciples, “I chose you.” (John 15:16 NABRE) However, a gift requires a response. In the case of a religious vocation, our response is a passion for the Word, our Lord.

     The Gospel today has only two sentences. These two sentences are, however, powerful in the insight that it gives us about vocations. The first sentence describes Jesus’ mission to proclaim the Gospel to every town and village. It is God’s passionate mission for the salvation of the world. God’s vocation is love.

     The second sentence describes those who follow Jesus’ call to proclaim the Gospel. Luke mentions the twelve disciples but also highlights three women by name,

“Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others who provided for them out of their resources.” (Luke 8:2–3 NABRE)

     All, but especially these three women model true vocation. There are no arguments about who will be greater (Luke 22:24). There is no walking away because a “teaching” is hard (John 6:66). They simply love. They give their all: their time, money, and talents to the proclamation of the Gospel. No task is too menial.

     For them, there is risk as well. Mary, Joanna, and Susanna clearly defied social norms to follow Jesus. In view of Jewish attitudes about the behavior of women in public, there is little doubt that Mary, Joanna, and Susanna’s actions were considered scandalous. Yet, all three faithfully follow the Lord in His ministry, to the cross, to the grave, and later receive the grace of being the first witnesses of His resurrection. They hold nothing back in their love for Jesus. They have a passion for God and his mission. They are, as St Paul describes, “fools” for Christ. (1 Corinthians 4:10)

     Today, thank God for these three great women. They are the first of so many women whose vocations have blessed the Church from its inception. Their passion is for Christ and all whom He loves. Reflect on your own vocation, your divine call received with the first grace of Confirmation. Are you living it out? Is Christ your passion?

     Just as important, have you encouraged the vocations of others? Have you supported them with more than your prayers? They may also need resources and encouragement as Mary, Joanna, and Susanna supported Christ. The response to a vocation depends to a very high degree on the witness of the family and the parish. People help vocations grow. They do this best by living out their own passion for the Lord and His work. They gladly become fools for Christ. Will you?

“God chose the foolish of the world to shame the wise, and God chose the weak of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27 NABRE)

     In every vocation there is a passion for the mission. In every religious vocation we hear the call of Christ, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide.” (John 15:16 NABRE)

     Now is the time to cooperate with grace and, no matter how foolish it may seem to the world, act on your vocation. Jesus is calling!