Owe Nothing to Anyone, Except to Love One Another: A Reflection on Debt and on Living the CFP Rule

Joel Whitaker, one of our CFP inquirers, shared a reflection on the Mass Readings for November 6, 2013. Here are the readings:

First Reading:

Brothers and sisters:
Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another;
for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
The commandments, You shall not commit adultery;
you shall not kill;
you shall not steal;
you shall not covet,
and whatever other commandment there may be,
are summed up in this saying, namely,
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Love does no evil to the neighbor;
hence, love is the fulfillment of the law. (Romans 13: 8-10)

Responsorial Psalm 

R. ( 5a) Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Blessed the man who fears the LORD,
who greatly delights in his commands.
His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth;
the upright generation shall be blessed.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
He dawns through the darkness, a light for the upright;
he is gracious and merciful and just.
Well for the man who is gracious and lends,
who conducts his affairs with justice.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia.
Lavishly he gives to the poor;
his generosity shall endure forever;
his horn shall be exalted in glory.
R. Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
or:
R. Alleluia. (Psalm 112: 1B-2, 4-5, 9)

Gospel

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, 
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion? 
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ 
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? 
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 
In the same way,
everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 25-43)

Reflection by one of our CFP inquirers. Some additional comments added in brackets.

By the way, today's readings struck me with thunder . . . so very appropriate for someone inquiring or in formation [with the Confraternity of Penitents].  St. Paul's direct statement: "Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another," got my attention immediately since I ran up a bunch of credit card debt for business.  In compliance with the Constitution, I plan to get rid of that, but it's going to take a while and won't be pretty.

Then there was the Responsorial Psalm, "Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever. . ."  Lavishly?  Fits right in with the tithing rule.  People do it, but in a country where the average charitable contribution is about 2%, tithing is "lavish." [CFP members are asked to tithe which means to give 10% of one's earnings as alms]

And finally, in the Gospel, "everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”  I'm presuming this "renounce" doesn't mean give it all away -- my wife and daughters would be really upset if I gave away their house and furnishings -- but to try to have no more than is needed.  [This is exactly what is meant here for lay people. Penitents are to live as simply as possible according to their state in life. They can give away their OWN things but not those of family members.]

The directive in today's Gospel to "calculate the cost" is thought-provoking:  I remember the woman on the chat in the summer {the CFP has a monthly on line chat in a chat room for instruction and sharing, for CFP members only] who said she dreaded giving up all her pink clothes.  [CFP penitents wear certain neutral colors and blue, as stated in our Constitutions. Pink isn't a color we wear. This follows the pattern of the color of clothing originally worn by the penitents in 1221] That "calculate the cost" line made me realize that joining CFP entails real costs . . . if one is eating just two meals a day (and especially if one avoids "a little bite"), what must one cut out to eat less than two full meals on a fasting day?  [The CFP  members eat 2 meals a day and maybe a bite at a third time, if needed, unless exempted by a physician for health reasons] What all does one give up to pray 90 minutes a day?  How many clothes are enough?  Which is more important -- getting rid of debt or tithing?  If I focus on getting rid of credit card debt, that can be done in five years.  But if I also tithe, that will probably be stretched out to 10 years.  (My instinct is to focus on getting rid of the debt, then "catching up" on the tithing.), etc., etc. [The CFP asks that debt be eliminated first and then tithe, as it is justice to pay up debt as soon as possible]

Really interesting questions.  I see now why a spiritual director is important.  Now the trick will be to find one. [All in the CFP are to have a spiritual director by the middle of their first year Novice formation. A spiritual director meets with the penitent at least monthly and offers spiritual guidance]  And I'm also coming to see that joining CFP is an obligation to, in very specific (and not always pleasant) ways take up a cross daily. 

Peace, 

Joel Whitaker