Daily Catholic Lectio
Wed, 30 Sep 2026
XXVI Week in Ordinary Time
Job 9:1-12, 14-16. Lk 9:57-62
Challenges of Discipleship
When we carefully observe the different people who wanted to follow Jesus, one thing becomes clear. Those who come forward on their own enthusiasm are not simply accepted without challenge. Discipleship is not based on personal attraction alone. One follows Jesus because one is called.
A man says to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Perhaps he was attracted by the crowds around Jesus, His teaching, or His mighty works. Jesus responds by showing him that discipleship is deeper than outward enthusiasm.
Jesus presents three challenges of discipleship.
First, “The Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.”
A house is a place where we stay, rest, and find security. It represents one of our basic human needs. Jesus reminds the disciple that following Him may involve letting go of security and comfort. Discipleship cannot be built on the guarantee that everything will always be safe and convenient.
Second, Jesus says, “Let the dead bury their own dead.”
The point is that we cannot keep carrying what is already past, finished, or dead. Memories of the past can sometimes cause pain; at other times they can fill us with pride. In both cases, the past can hold us back.
The disciple must learn to move forward. Following Jesus requires freedom from what has already happened.
Third, Jesus says, “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.”
This is an agricultural image. The one who ploughs a field must keep looking forward. Looking back slows the work, makes the furrow uneven, and can even cause the plough to move dangerously towards the feet of the one working.
The lesson is simple: continuity and perseverance are necessary.
Jesus therefore widens our understanding of discipleship.
Its challenges are these: letting go of attachments, leaving behind the past, and moving forward without hesitation. These are also lessons for the journey of life itself. We grow when we are able to release what binds us, stop living only in the past, and continue with perseverance.
In today’s first reading, we hear Job’s first response to his friends. Job says, “I would plead for mercy with my Judge.”
Job knows that he cannot stand before God by his own strength. Yet he trusts in God’s mercy.
God is our Judge, but He is also merciful. When we become tired or weak in the journey of following Him, He does not simply abandon us. He lifts us and gives us strength to continue.
Today we also remember Saint Jerome. He famously said, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.” He reminds us that through reading the Scriptures, we come to know Christ more deeply.
Jerome translated the Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. His love for the Word of God, his discipline, and his scholarship remain admirable.
His life teaches us that where there is genuine interest, strength also begins to grow.
Today, let us open the Bible in our homes and read at least a few pages.
The challenges of discipleship remain real: less attachment, less living in the past, and more perseverance. But the One who calls us also gives us the mercy and strength to continue.
Fr. Yesu Karunanidhi
Archdiocese of Madurai
A Yesni Prays Initiative
Leave a comment