MY daily reflection and prayer:
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time
Dear my friends,
Here is the Gospel for us today according to St. Luke 14: 25-33
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If any one 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, every one of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ.
***
TODAY’S Gospel has some extremely radical words about our discipleships. If we come to follow Jesus Christ without hating our father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even our own lives, we cannot be his disciples. What does it mean? As vital as our relationship with Christ is, they cannot take the first place in our heart. That place belongs to the source of our entire existence, the one who loves us with a tender and passionate love, that is Jesus Christ himself.
By this word, Jesus Christ wants to tell us that following him is not easy. He challenges us to put everything in second place to him and pick up our cross every day. Of course, we won’t be able to do this without his grace because we are so weak and frail. But we believe that he will give us the strength we need. We have to think about our priorities to make sure that Jesus Christ is always coming first. But it will take much sacrifice.
What is the meaning of Jesus’ word for us? First of all, Jesus Christ wants us to become saints. He is saying that we need to be radical in our fight against sin to achieve holiness. He wants us to have the infinite joy of really loving, and then of being with him forever in heaven. Then he wants to shake us out of our comfort zone to call us into a deeper relationship with him.
What about the great commandment to love? Is Jesus Christ telling us to hate the very people we should love the most? No! So today’s gospel is not a divine license to hate our brother and sisters. He means that unless we love him more than we love our families, we can’t really follow him. If we value our own life and our own comfort more than we love Him, we’re not going to be able to experience the joy of a deep friendship with him.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus Christ gives us to key to loving him above all else. It means letting go of our possessive love. He makes this abundantly clear at the end of today’s gospel when he says: “Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
Of course, Jesus is not saying that everyone should sell their homes and cars right after this Mass. We have a responsibility to others, and we need to use the gifts of God wisely. He is, however, calling us to give up our possessive, hoarding attitude towards material possessions and towards others. He’s inviting us to carry our crosses by renouncing our possessions for the infinite gain of loving him above all things.
This actually means that we’re called to love others more. So often we love others for what they can do for us, or we love them in a possessive way. The more we put Jesus Christ in first place in our lives, the more we truly love others.
Anyone who’s seen a picture of Mother Teresa of Calcutta holding a sick baby or a dying person knows this is true. The saints are those who love Jesus Christ above all things; and they love others with that same love.
In our lives today marked by consumerism and hedonism, it can sound daunting. So he remarks on the need to calculate the costs and estimate the amount of resources needed in our building project of spiritual lives for the sake of our salvation. We have to know what it will take to achieve the goal.
Jesus also gives us other important point about our discipleship. It is like a war which is tough, and we have to find the best tactics to win. So too with our discipleship. In our efforts to grow holy, some battles will be won easily; others will need to be avoided completely.
So let’s not get beat by foolishly overestimating our capacities. This happens especially when we don’t avoid the occasions of sin, thinking ourselves strong enough to handle them. At times, the best battle strategy is not to fight, but to flee in his merciful love!
In the Perpetual Adoration of the Eucharist while adoring Jesus Christ we learn to put him the first priority of our lives. We know that he has been waiting for us there. We truly wish to give ourselves totally to him during this adoration as an expression of our gratitude and love. Do we love him above all else?
Let’s pray: Lord Jesus Christ, following you is not easy. You ask each of us to put everything in second place to you and pick up our cross every day. We won’t be able to do this without your grace. We are weak and frail, Lord, but we believe that you will give us the strength we need. Help us to carry our daily cross faithfully now and forever. Amen.
Kredit foto: Ilustrasi (Ist)
