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,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”LK 14:25-33
Jesus reveals a strong message today that many may wonder why He would want us to hate those closest to us whom the Father created. The point is we must make God the number one priority in our lives before our family, ourselves, and our possessions. Jesus wants us to understand loud and clear, God first. Disciple means follower. If we want to follow Jesus, we must make a serious commitment. We are dedicated to our families, ourselves, our possessions and often sports or our extracurricular activities. It is easy to stay dedicated to something that entertains us or something we are interested in. Sadly, we often worship our work, our sports, and our electronics. God is put on the back burner. Jesus is warning us against this today. It is not easy to follow Jesus. We know when we give up something to gain something, the harder we work and the more we give up the greater the reward. We cannot be a disciple of Christ if we do not put God first, bottom line. I don’t know about you but I have a lot work to do! On top of this Jesus warns we must take our crosses daily to follow Him. We cannot accomplish this on our own, we must come to God’s grace in the sacraments, pray without ceasing, allow the Holy Spirit to guide us, offer up our daily suffering, ask Mary to intercede for us with the saints, and do good deeds for the least among us. This is overwhelming, but St. Teresa of Calcutta gives us a clue where to start as she is canonized today, “If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family.”Love God and the only natural thing left to do is to love others.
Today’s challenge: Reflect on your daily activities. Where can you put God first in the most dedicated way possible? Wake with the Lord’s prayer as your first thoughts of the day. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you. Talk to Jesus like texting your best friend and most importantly listen. Look for little ways to love those who God puts in contact with. Receive the Eucharist and go to confession often. Follow the Truth, God’s Word, daily.
Be a servant, become a saint!
#Christian YOLO
Heart, Fight, Trust
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