First Reading: Zechariah 12:10-11; 13:1 Responsorial: Psalm 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 Second Reading: Galatians 3:26-29 Gospel Passage: Luke 9:18-24
Discipline by Msgr. Richard Henning
“Discipline,” it is not the most popular word in contemporary culture. We prefer to focus on freedom, individuality, self-empowerment, or entertainment. Discipline conjures a picture that looks very different, involving hard work, self denial, dedication, and submission to authority. But did you know that the word discipline comes from the same derivation as disciple? In fact, to discipline is to educate, especially in the sense of moral and behavioral training. In biblical terms, discipline of his children is one of the obligations of a good father (Proverbs 13:24). And God, like any good Father, disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:5-8), including His Beloved Son, Jesus (8:32)
There were many people in Jesus’ day that looked to God for deliverance from suffering and oppression, and they many different ideas about the form that such deliverance would take. Some imagined a figure who would lead them in a war of liberation against Rome. Others hoped for something on a larger scale, an intervention by God that would sweep away sin and death and inaugurate a new reign in which the Lord Himself would rule over His people. Of course, such dreams envisioned the suffering and defeat of the “other side,” the enemies, the oppressors, and the glorious triumph of those loyal to the Lord. It appears that no one, not even Jesus’ Own family and followers, imagined a scenario in which God’s Chosen One would not take their “side” and suffer rejection and a shameful death.
In the gospel passage, we hear Luke’s account of Peter’s “confession” of Jesus’ identity. As is the case in the Gospel of Mark, this moment of speaking Jesus’ identity is an assertion of the shocking link between Jesus’ status as the Christ and His destiny to suffer and die. It is Jesus Who establishes the link, predicting His Own passion. Shortly, he will “set His face” towards Jerusalem (9:51) and the terrible events to come. As Jesus prepares His disciples for His passion, He also establishes a link between it and their future. They must learn to deny themselves and take up their cross. And Luke’s version reminds that this will be a “daily” obligation. The orientation of their lives must not be self-empowerment, but self-emptying.
Early Christians saw an image of Christ’s self-emptying death in the passage proclaimed from Zechariah in the first reading. In an ambiguous reference to a figure like the Suffering Servant of Isaiah, Zechariah prophesies the mourning of the people over a beloved figure “whom they have pierced.” There is an element of rebuke and encouragement in this prophecy as Zechariah addresses a people who have returned from exile but feel bereft amid the ruins of their glorious past. They have and will do terrible wrong, but that very wrong will turn their hearts to repentance.
In his Letter to the Galatians, Paul was disciplining his spiritual sons and daughters for their fickle attraction to false ideas. Wanting to demonstrate their rigorous observance of tradition, they have forgotten the gift given to them in Christ Jesus, status as children of God. And in their desire to distinguish themselves from others, they have forgotten that Jesus did not divide “us” from “them,” but brought all to a new possibility of grace. We can never claim for “our side” the One Who embraces every “side.” Paul thus summons his people to a radical new communion that obliterates the divisiveness of human categories and notions of status.
If we take them seriously, the scripture passages for this Sunday are a serious challenge to the Christian disciple. Zechariah disciplines us for our sinfulness and forgetfulness of God, summoning us to mourn the one pierced by our wrongdoing and return to the Lord. Paul disciplines us for our constant desire to distinguish ourselves one from another. And the Lord Jesus disciplines our temptation to live for and within ourselves. He commands us to embrace His example of self-emptying and trust in God no matter the terrifying circumstances.
It is fitting to speak of discipline on a day dedicated to honoring the good fathers of our communities. Good fathers have become too rare in our society and the lack of discipline in our culture reveals the effects of the absence of fathers. As we honor fathers who have given their lives to the protection and education of their children, we recognize their witness to the Father of All and ask that His grace strengthen them for their holy calling. Our fathers must be the men who can speak the hard truths, demand good and honorable behavior, and demonstrate lives of unselfish dedication to their children. May they teach us that discipline, endurance, even suffering for the sake of the good is the way of the Christian disciple and the path to salvation.
