With today’s passage we find ourselves at the turning point of the whole Gospel according to Luke: the days were coming when he would have been lifted up. While in Jesus the awareness of what will be the epilogue of his testimony becomes clearer and clearer, here he literally hardens his face towards Jerusalem which is the place of the greatest contradictions: the passion followed by the resurrection. The Lord’s self-awareness is shared in the disciples who are corrected – think of the reaction of James and John – and decidedly oriented: he lets the dead bury their dead. The Lord himself refers to the call of Elisha on the part of the prophet Elijah and further radicalizes the need since having no where to lay the head means being able to be even more willing to let oneself be guided by the Spirit, thus receiving the mantle of Christ’s call which is not a hood, but a free and liberating space of freedom. Even today the Lord, through his mysterious prophets and angels who walk beside us without realizing their role, continues to call each of us to follow the paths of freedom, showing us capable of making decisions that are not only free, but also clear. and capable of changing our life and that of those who habitually share – or occasionally intersect – our existential paths. Paul warns us: That this freedom, however, does not become a pretext for the flesh; through love, instead, be at the service of one another.

Commentary by b. Michael David, osb Community of the Koinonia de la Visitation

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves, Prinknash Abbey