HOMILY FOR THE 13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C: THE RUBICON AND THE PLOW

HOMILY FOR THE 13TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME YEAR C: THE RUBICON AND THE PLOW

The Point of No Return

Have you ever made a decision where you knew, once you made it, there was no going back? Maybe it was accepting a new job and moving to a new city. Maybe it was the moment you proposed, or said “I do.” You pass a Rubicon, a point of no return, and life is never quite the same. It’s exciting, a little scary, and requires your full commitment.

• History is filled with such moments. We call it “crossing the Rubicon,” after Julius Caesar marched his army across that small river in 49 B.C., violating Roman law and knowingly starting a civil war. As he crossed, he famously declared, “Alea iacta est”—the “die is cast”. It means that a decisive action has been taken, leaving no possibility for turning back. There was no going back.
• Many centuries later, on the shores of a new world, the conquistador Hernán Cortés gave his men a similar challenge. Facing the vast and powerful Aztec Empire with only a few hundred soldiers, he gave the order to scuttle the ships. He burned the boats. There would be no retreat. Forward was the only option.
• These leaders understood that victory required cutting off all escape routes, forcing a total, unhesitating commitment.

In our spiritual lives, God also calls us to a point of no return. Not a point of fear, but a point of freedom. And that is the powerful, challenging message in our readings today.

A Hand to the Plow

In our Gospel, we see Jesus make his own decisive turn. St. Luke tells us, “He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

• Jesus sets his face like flint towards the cross. He knows what awaits him, yet he moves forward with total commitment. There is no hesitation, no looking back.

And as he travels, he meets people who are interested in following him, but they have a “but.” They have an “and.” They have a “first, let me…” They presented Our Lord their own conditions and requirements.

• One says, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home.” And another requested to bury his father first.  
• Both requests sound reasonable. But Jesus’s reply is stunning and sharp: “No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62).

Burn the Plow

Where does this powerful image of the plow come from? It comes directly from our First Reading.

 The prophet Elijah finds Elisha plowing a field with twelve yoke of oxen. Elijah throws his cloak—a sign of his prophetic authority—over Elisha. He calls him. And what does Elisha do? He asks to say goodbye to his parents, and then he does something absolutely radical. He “took the yoke of oxen, slaughtered them, and boiled their flesh, using the plowing equipment for fuel” (1 Kings 19:21).

• He didn’t just put the plow in the barn for safekeeping in case this call from the prophet didn’t work out.
• Rather, he burned the plow. He destroyed his old way of life. He destroyed his safety net. He was all in. He had reached his point of no return.

Many people have burned their “plow” to follow God’s call.

• Priests, nuns, laymen called to apostolic celibacy who had to definitely break off from a relationship or an engagement to follow what God was asking from them.
• Numerous men and women giving up their dreams, their plans, their lucrative careers in order to serve God and His Church.
• They crossed their Rubicon and burned their plows to completely embark a new life, a divine adventure.
• They chose to live by the Spirit and not gratify the desire of the flesh. Many went on board on their own point of no return for love of God and of others.

I have met many young couples who felt God was calling them to be open to life, but they were scared. They didn’t have a big house; their jobs weren’t perfectly secure. The world was telling them to wait, to be “responsible,” to keep their options open. But after a lot of prayer, they decided to trust God completely—to burn the plow of their financial security and a comfortable life.

• They chose faith over fear, they chose love over comfort. They chose children over material things. Their lives weren’t easy; rather, they were filled with daily sacrifices.
• But the joy and love that filled their homes with their greatest treasure—their children—were a testament to the freedom they found in saying “yes” to God without reservation. And they firmly testify that they would not change a thing to what they have freely chosen.

The Freedom of Total Commitment

All this sounds demanding, doesn’t it? It sounds difficult. And it is. But St. Paul, in our second reading, reveals the secret. He tells us why we should desire this total commitment. He says, “For freedom Christ set us free; so stand firm and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

• We think freedom is having unlimited options, keeping our escape routes open, and never fully committing. But that is a trap. That is a life of constant hesitation and anxiety.
• True freedom is found in giving our lives over to Christ completely. As St. Paul says, “you were called for freedom… But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh (Galatians 5:13) It is freedom from the slavery of sin, selfishness, and fear. It is freedom for a greater purpose: to “serve one another through love” (Galatians 5:13).

A Cloud of Witnesses

The saints understood this radical call to freedom.

• Think of the “yes” of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of Saint Joseph.
• Think of the Forty Martyrs of Sebaste in the fourth century. They were Roman soldiers and faithful Christians who were ordered to renounce Christ by making a sacrifice to pagan gods. When they refused, they were sentenced to die by exposure—forced to stand naked on a frozen lake in the dead of winter. The governor placed a warm bathhouse on the shore, a tempting escape for any who would change their minds. This was their point of no return. As they stood freezing, they prayed together, “Lord, we are forty who are engaged in this combat; grant that forty may be crowned.” But one of them lost courage. He looked back. He left the ice and ran for the bathhouse, only to die of shock the moment he entered the heat. But then, one of the Roman guards, seeing the other thirty-nine men praying with a heavenly light above them, was moved by grace. He stripped off his own clothes, proclaimed himself a Christian, and joined them on the ice. He burned his plow, his career, his very life, in an instant. And so, the number of martyrs remained forty.
• St. Augustine, who spent years looking back at his old life, finally understood this when he wrote, “Our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O Lord” (Confessions). He realized that holding back from God didn’t make him free; it only made him restless.
• St. Teresa of Calcutta lived this out by “burning her plow” of a comfortable teaching life to serve the poorest of the poor. To her the following quote is attributed: “Intense love does not measure, it just gives.” Discipleship is not about calculating the cost; it’s about the intensity of our love.
• And St. John Paul II issued this same challenge to our generation when he cried out, “Do not be afraid! Open wide the doors for Christ!” (Homily, Papal Inauguration, 1978). Don’t stand at the doorway, hesitating. Fling the doors of your heart open and let Christ, Our Lord, in completely and possess our life.

The Call in Our Own Lives

Dear brethren in Christ, Jesus is walking by the fields of our lives today. He is throwing his cloak over our shoulders. He is calling us to follow Him as He called those people in today’s Gospel.

Let us ask ourselves:

• What is the “plow” in your life that we’re afraid to burn?
• What is the “but,” the “first, let me…” that is holding us back from following God with a resolute heart?
• Is it a desire of a comfortable life, of material things, of wealth which we won’t let go of? Is it a comfortable sin we keep turning back to? Is it the fear of what our friends or family will think? Is it our attachment to your own plans and your own security?

Saint Josemaria wrote: “Self-giving is the first step along the road of sacrifice, joy, love, union with God. —And so an entire life is filled with a holy madness which makes us find happiness where human logic would only see denial, suffering, pain. (Furrow, no. 3).”

Our True Inheritance

Jesus is not calling us to a life of misery, but to a life of authentic freedom and purpose. He is inviting us to find our joy not in looking back, but in moving forward with Him, knowing that He is our true destination, our true home, our true inheritance.

Let us burn the plows that keep us tied to the past, so that we can say with the Psalmist, and mean it with our whole lives: “You are my inheritance, O Lord” (Psalm 16:5).

Lord God, you have called us today to a point of no return, to set our faces toward you and never look back. We confess our hesitation and our fear. We hold on to our plows, our safety nets, and our selfishness and love of comfort. We are often afraid to give you our complete trust and self-giving.

Grant us the grace of your Spirit to identify the plows in our lives—our sins, our attachments, and our fears—and the strength to burn them once and for all. Help us to believe that true freedom is found only in surrendering our lives to you for your service. Prompted by love, may we open wide the doors of our hearts and follow your Son, Jesus, with a resolute and joyful spirit, seeking no inheritance but you alone.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Blessed Sunday and week ahead!

Fr. Rolly Arjonillo

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Thanks and God bless you and your loved ones! Fr. Rolly Arjonillo.