(Audio recorded live, 7 September 2025)

Readings:

Wis. 9:13-18b; Ps. 90; Phmn. 9-10, 12-17; Lk. 14:25-33

Do we seek wisdom? Do we seek to become truly wise? Do we know what wisdom is? The Book of Proverbs says, “The beginning of wisdom is fear of the LORD, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Pv. 9:10). In other words, if we wish to be truly wise, we must seek God first, which goes against our natural inclination. You see, human beings have a body and a soul. One part is material, the other spiritual. As material beings, we grow in knowledge about our environment through empirical observation—that which we can see and touch and measure. But, this is only one way of gaining knowledge. We can also observe an object or phenomenon and be led to something beyond it. This is metaphysics. Let’s look at human beings as the phenomenon. We acknowledge that we are flesh and bone, but we also observe unique personalities, minds, and temperaments, invisible qualities. This leads us to a deeper reality about one another; there is something more to us than just flesh and bone, which is the soul. There must be something that animates us; something that makes us uniquely who we are. That something enables us to say, “I am who I am.”

In the Book of Exodus, when God reveals himself to Moses in the burning bush, Moses asks, “if I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what do I tell them?” God replied to Moses: I am who I am” (Ex. 3:13-14). Now, we understand the name of God reveals God as pure Being. In other words, God is the principle of Being, and everything that has being does so because of God. And as it says in the Book of Genesis, “God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Gn. 1:27). This naturally leads us to a few questions from the Baltimore Catechism, namely, “What is man?” Man is a creature composed of body and soul, and made to the image and likeness of God (BC 48). “Is this likeness to God in the body or in the soul?” This likeness to God is chiefly in the soul (BC 49). And “How is the soul like God?” The soul is like God because it is a spirit having understanding and free will, and is destined to live forever (BC 50).

If the name of God is “I am who I am,” then my soul, which is a spirit like God, enables me to say I am who I am. In other words, I am fearfully, wonderfully made in God’s image, yet with my own personality. But, wait a minute. It sounds like I just made myself out to be God. I am not. No finite being can ever be God. But, as embodied souls, we are God-like. Whenever we imitate Christ, we are being God-like. Whenever we love one another as Jesus loves, we are being God-like. Whenever we suffer for the sake of the truth or what is right, we are being God-like.

We see this transformation in Philemon’s slave Onesimus. In our second reading we discover that Onesimus likely ran away from his master without repaying his debt. He then became a disciple of St. Paul, who treats him like his own child. Onesimus was baptized and therefore freed from his sins. This gave him a special dignity through Christ. After St. Paul was arrested, he sent Onesimus back to Philemon with the message to treat him no longer as a slave, but as a man, a brother in Christ.

Was it Onesimus’ body that was saved by Christ, or was it his soul? Was it the part of him that could be seen, or that which was unseen? So often we are tempted to judge a book by its cover. How often do we try to look beyond what is visible to see the true person? Sometimes it is difficult to see the true person because we all have crosses to carry. Just as Jesus was transfigured on the Cross, so too are we transfigured by our difficulties.

Jesus speaks of the significance of the cross in the gospel. He says, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” In fact, he says the phrase, “cannot be my disciple,” three times in this gospel passage. There are requirements for discipleship, and Jesus outlines them, namely, to put God first, even before one’s own family and one’s own life; second, to carry one’s own burdens, one’s own cross; and third, to renounce all possessions. If one is unable to do these, they cannot be his disciple. This seems difficult. With teachings like this it is no wonder Jesus’ disciples would ask, “Who then can be saved?” But what seems impossible for man is not impossible for God. Our baptism is the beginning of our salvation. This is not our own doing, but the grace of God. And as we journey through our Christian life, we stand to gain far more by following Jesus, walking in his footsteps, carrying our own crosses, than latching on to anything of this world. In the end, we will not be judged for the empires we built on earth, but rather, by the quality of our soul.

And so, as we seek to carry out this life of discipleship, may our gathering here today keep us steadfast in our love of God, may the crosses we bear help us to grow in virtue and holiness, and may the sacrifices we make teach us wisdom. For it is not our possessions that satisfy, but rather, the conscious effort we make to welcome the holy spirit of God from on high. “And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.”