The same question asked a thousand ways.

Last week, Missy told me that, after I went to Mass, I would write about the readings. I knew upon hearing them that she was right...the only thing was, I had no idea what I was going to say. There are literally a thousand things that could be commented on. I'll start by simply repeating the relevant readings.

1 Kgs 19:16b, 19-21
The LORD said to Elijah:
“You shall anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah,
as prophet to succeed you.”
Elijah set out and came upon Elisha, son of Shaphat,
as he was plowing with twelve yoke of oxen;
he was following the twelfth.
Elijah went over to him and threw his cloak over him.
Elisha left the oxen, ran after Elijah, and said,
“Please, let me kiss my father and mother goodbye,
and I will follow you.”
Elijah answered, “Go back!
Have I done anything to you?”
Elisha left him, and taking the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them;
he used the plowing equipment for fuel to boil their flesh,
and gave it to his people to eat.
Then Elisha left and followed Elijah as his attendant.

Gal 5:1, 13-18
Brothers and sisters:
For freedom Christ set us free;
so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.
For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters.
But do not use this freedom
as an opportunity for the flesh;
rather, serve one another through love.
For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement,
namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
But if you go on biting and devouring one another,
beware that you are not consumed by one another.
I say, then: live by the Spirit
and you will certainly not gratify the desire of the flesh.
For the flesh has desires against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh;
these are opposed to each other,
so that you may not do what you want.
But if you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

Lk 9:51-62
When the days for Jesus’ being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
“Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?”
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.
As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
“I will follow you wherever you go.”
Jesus answered him,
“Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.”
And to another he said, “Follow me.”
But he replied, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But he answered him, “Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
And another said, “I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home.”
To him Jesus said, “No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God.”

This is one of those unique days when the readings obviously tie together fluidly. They are challenging readings, to be sure, exhorting the faithful to lives of service. My pastor gave an excellent homily on what it meant truly to be Christian in being His hands here on Earth.

However, to my utter discomfiture, one word leapt at me from the page, a stinging slap.

Slavery.

Oh no, I think. No, Lord, not this. Tell me anything else.

No, He says. I won't force you to listen, but he who has ears, let him hear.

While all these readings have tons to say about the Christian walk, they all contain one commonality that breaks down our faith to its most essential nugget. It's the question that was asked a thousand ways.

Elisha asks of Elijah, may I kiss my mother and father goodbye before I come?

The Sons of Thunder ask, may we call down fire from Heaven to consume those who do not like what we stand for?

Jesus asks: can you follow me into homelessness? Can you bury the past? Can you leave behind those you hold dear?

It's not just a matter of semantics. The essential heart of our faith leads us to that singular question.

What are you willing to give up in order to follow Him?

This is so difficult. I have often pondered a situation where I would be forced to choose my faith or death, and it seems a simple choice. No one could convince me to forsake my God. Yet, day after day, I am asked that exact same question, and I give a completely different answer. I sin, just a little sin, but it's the same question. Will you give it up? I say no. Time and time again, those thirty pieces of silver change hands and I sell myself into a slavery of my own making. I think I would proclaim the name of Jesus even with a gun to my head, but it takes far less than that to cause me to forget Him. The cock crows and I have denied Him, over and over and over.

What is so valuable to me, to you, that we should cling to it instead of to our Saviour? What are those little pet habits we won't give up, what 'just this once' sins do we allow ourselves?

The truth of Christ is martyrdom, but not in the sense we typically perceive. It is daily martyrdom, the killing of those impulses that keep us in corporeal ties of servitude. It is the willingness to put our hand to the plow and not look back.

In contemplating this, I realize most profoundly how wretched, how worthless a creature I am, and how unworthy of His love. I think, then, of Jesus looking with love and pity at Peter as he denied Him in the courtyard, and how He is imminently ready to forgive us our infidelities. Praise God for this divine mercy, for without it, we would all be slaves to our baser natures.

We stumble, day to day, through a myriad challenges of our faith, presented with chance after chance to deny Him, to please ourselves. We have to continue to ask ourselves what we are willing to do to belong to Him. Only in His grace will we find the answer.