Follow Me, says the Lord!

In today's Gospel, John 21: 20-25, Peter, after being instructed by Jesus concerning what Jesus wanted of him, Peter notices John and says to Jesus: What about  him?  Jesus responds:  "What concern is it of yours. You follow me."    It is so easy for us, I think, to put our focus on others, to be concerned about others in ways that distract us from what God is asking of us!  With our attention focused on the issues of other people, on what we think another person should or should not be doing, we distract ourselves from looking within at what in us needs to change, on what attitudes within us are contrary to God's will for us, on motivations that direct us away from being the persons God calls us to become.

"You follow me," Jesus says to us when we are into other people's business.  God may be asking us to be involved in family, church, community projects to which another person is not called. It is not our task to decide what another person's "business" is but it is our task to discern God's will for us. Is something happening in our civic community to which God is calling us? Is something being offered at our parish in which we are being invited to participate? Are there family responsibilities to which God is asking us to devote more attention?  Are we aware of God's call to us personally or are we so into critiquing other people that we are blind and deaf to what God is asking of us personally?

Bearing Earnest Witness and the Price Paid

In both the first reading, Acts 20: 17-22, and the Gospel, John 17: 1-11a, both St. Paul and Jesus speak about having completed the work God had given them to do. Paul states his message this way: "'You know," he says to the people of Ephesus, "how I lived among you the whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia.  I served the Lord with all humility and with the tears and trials that came to me because of the plots of the Jews, and I did not at all shrink from telling you what was for your benefit, or from teaching you in public or in your homes.  I earnestly bore witness for both Jews and Greeks to repentance before God and to faith in our Lord Jesus."  Jesus says to His Father:  "Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that your son may give eternal  life to all you gave him....Now glorify me, Father, with you, with the glory that I  had with you before the world began. I revealed your name to those whom  you gave me out of the world. ...[T]hey have kept your word. Now they know that everything  you gave me is from  you, because the words you gave to me I have given to them, and they accepted them and truly understood that I came from you, and they have believed that you sent me....And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you."

WOW! The confidence of Jesus in His Father and in Himself!  He knew that He had completed the work the Father gave Him to do. And he also knew that the price He'd pay would be eliciting the anger of the elders, the leaders of the nation of Israel, the scribes and the Pharisees: an anger that led to himself being murdered. Jealousy led to the Pharisees, the scribes and the leaders of the nation of Israel plotting His demise. Jesus knew that was happening but that did not deter Him from proclaiming the truth, from revealing the Father's name and doing what the Father would do: heal the sick, raise the dead to life, make clean the leper, dry up the blood of a bleeding woman, make the cripple walk again, cast out demons, speak to women in public and include women in proclaiming the Kingdom, confronting unjust and hypocritical practices. 

Paul, too, did not stop doing the work Christ asked of Him. No matter what Paul encountered--and he tells us that he was beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned and knew that people were out to kill him--he spoke of Jesus, of His resurrection and of the need to repent of their sinfulness and follow Jesus! Who wanted to hear that message? Imagine confronting our leaders with this message or a member of our families who may have strayed! Would we risk our lives, our relationships? We know that many of the apostles  fled after Jesus was arrested--no way did they want to risk the fate that Jesus was facing for standing up to truth and justice, for calling people to repentance.

Do you and I have the courage of Jesus? of St. Paul? Do we do and say what we know we are called to do and say even if the consequences put us in conflict with those who threaten us in any way? If we know that we will meet opposition to speaking the truth and doing what is right, do we still show up for Christ?

Grief Turned into Joy

In today's Gospel, John 16: 16-20, the disciples are trying to figure out what Jesus meant when he said to them:  "A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while later and you will see me.....Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, 'Are you discussing with one another what I said,...Amen, amen, I say to  you, you will weep and mourn, while the world rejoices; you will grieve, but your grief will become joy.'" 

Jesus gives us the same message.  Our life here on earth is short--eighty years if we are strong, the psalmist says to us.  Our time here on earth is brief. And, from time to time,  it is filled with weeping and mourning, while the world around us rejoices.  We will grieve for a time but our sorrow will be turned into joy, just as Jesus' was!  Much of Jesus' life was filled with grief: the grief of the loss of His foster father, the grief of being rejected by many, by having chief priests and leaders of His people plotting to kill Him, the grief of others walking away from Him when He spoke of the Eucharist, that is, of eating His Body and drinking His blood. That was too much for many of His disciples.  He endured being accused of blasphemy when He spoke of being one with His Father. Jealous of His growing popularity and of the crowds following Him, the chief priests and leaders found a way to destroy Him, that is to have Him crucified as a criminal to the State of Israel. Yes, Jesus wept and mourned over Jerusalem while the world around Him rejoiced. His grief was turned into joy at the resurrection from the dead on Easter Sunday. Our grief will also be turned into joy when we, too, like Jesus, return to our Father in heaven!  May we have the courage to endure until the end of our lives, believing in Jesus, trusting Jesus and loving Jesus beyond all else that is!

"Follow Me," says Jesus to Levi

In today's Gospel, Luke 5: 27-32, Jesus calls Levi to follow him.  Levi is a tax collector, one who has been known for his unjust practices in taxing the people.  In short, he cheated people!  Following the privilege of being called to be a follower of Jesus, Levi throws a huge banquet in his home for Jesus and his disciples.  The Pharisees and scribes see this and complain to Jesus: "'Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?' Jesus said to them in reply, 'Those who are healthy do not need a physician, but the sick do. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners.'"

Levi had nothing to boast of as an apostle. Neither do you and I as Christians or as members of a religious community or as priests, deacons, missionaries, Knights of Columbus, married men and women or any privileged group of people.  We have been called, not because of our holiness, but because we needed, and still need, a physician. We are sinners who need to repent of our sinfulness. 

The other lesson in this Gospel is that none of us can say: God would never call me to such and such!  Our weaknesses, our shortcomings, our vulnerabilities and, yes, even our sinful lives are not a deterrent in God's mind. God called an Augustine who lived a promiscuous life to follow Him. Other persons with backgrounds as mired by sin as Augustine's were also called to a life of holiness!  No matter how bleak and scandalous our lives may have been or now are, God calls us to holiness, to turn away from sin and embrace goodness, justice, truth, holiness, altruistic pursuits, lives of integrity. And we do it because we are empowered by grace to do so. God equips us to accomplish that to which He calls us.

Let us with the psalmist of today's responsorial psalm, Psalm 86, pray:  "Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth," as did Levi.

Choose Life, Not Death

In today's first reading, Deuteronomy 30: 15-20, Moses has a heart-to-heart talk with his people before he passes on to eternal life. He challenges his fellow Israelites, and each of us,  to choose life, not death! How? By keeping the commandments, serving the one true God, loving God, walking with God, listening to His voice, holding fast to God, turning away from idols, and not worshiping false gods,  (and they are all around them and us)! The responsorial psalm, Psalm 1, further instructs on what it means to serve the one true God: follow not the way of the wicked (and they, too, are all around us), walk not in the way of sinners who press us on every side, do not take a seat among the insolent, the lackadaisical, the proud, the arrogant or those who lust for that which causes death to the soul or spirit. Rather, delight in the ways of God and meditate on God's laws day and night!  In other words, stay close to the Lord, cling to Him, love Him, serve Him, worship Him. In  today's Gospel, Luke 9: 22-25, Jesus also shares his concerns with us lest we forfeit that which gives us life and denies us eternal life.  "If anyone who wishes to come after me, he must deny  himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whosoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What prof\it is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?

When you and I, at all costs, run after false gods, sit with the arrogant, the proud, the lustful, the insolent, the wicked, sinners bent on evil pursuits, are we not then refusing to deny ourselves? Are we not then not refusing to "take up [our] cross daily"?  Is it possible that we fall into these traps because we fail to keep our focus on the Lord, who alone can help to make right choices and to remember our vulnerability to make poor choices that do not lead to life but to death?

May we heed the voices of the Spirit in each of the readings in today's liturgy. Forgive us, Lord, when we turn from you and rely on ourselves alone or seek only the help of fellow human beings, who, like us, are vulnerable to worship idols.

Faith Responses when Facing Difficulties

In today's first reading, Acts 14: 19-28, we are again inspired by the apostle Paul, who had been stoned, dragged out of the city in which he was proclaiming Christ, and left for dead.  When those who were stoning him left, Paul got up and re-entered the city to continue doing the work that the Lord Jesus had commissioned him to do.  Nothing stopped him. Down, he got up. No self-pity. No ranting and raving about his persecutors or those opposing his work.

What an example for all of us.  What, I ask myself, do I do when others knock me down, whether that be a physical altercation or an emotional one?  Do I get up when I fall, or when others push me down, as Jesus did on the way to Calvary, and continue the work of building up the Kingdom? Do I keep my eyes on Jesus and what He is asking me to do as His follower? Or do I waste time slamming others for the problems they have put in my way or putting myself down for the problems I have created for myself?

The choice is mine. Jesus did not promise that the journey of faith would be an easy one!  So why am I complaining when I encounter the difficulties of life, of being human and encountering human nature at its worst in others?

Lord, I ask for pardon when I fall short of serving You heroically, as did Paul. Help me, Jesus, keep my focus on you and on building up Your Kingdom of faith, hope and love! Give me the Wisdom I need in doing what is right and just for others and for myself.

Jesus' Hour Had Come!

Tonight is night before Jesus gathers His apostles together to celebrate the Passover meal with Him, to institute the Eucharist, and to announce that one of them is going to betray Him that very night. Tomorrow night Jesus will be arrested in the Garden of Olives, betrayed by one of his close followers, one who followed Jesus closely day by day for three years and was chosen to be a part of an elite group referred to as the apostles. Tomorrow night Jesus will be arrested. I feel sad but I must remember how Jesus foretold his death and subsequent glorification.

In John 12: 23-28,  Jesus says to he apostles: "Now the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.  I tell you, most solemnly, unless a wheat grain falls on the ground and dies, it remains only a single grain; but if it dies it yields a rich harvest. Anyone who loves his life loses it; anyone who hates his life in this world will keep it for the eternal life. If a [person] serves me, that [person]  must follow me, wherever I am, my servant will be there too. [Those who] serve me, my Father will honor...Now my soul is troubled. What shall I say: Father, save me from this hour? But it was for this very reason that I have come to this hour. Father glorify your name."

WOW!  Lord, when my hour approaches, may I be graced to remember that through my death your name is being glorified, as it will be the moment that a place has been prepared for me in the eternal kingdom. that moment will be the moment that you have been waiting for: the moment to take me home to heaven to live with you forever! May I, Lord, through grace, "keep [my life] for the eternal life."

"Come and see"

In today's Gospel, John 1: 43-51, we are told that Jesus decided to go to Galilee, where he found Philip and says to him: "Follow me." Philip, in turn, finds Nathaniel and says to him:  "We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth."  "From Nazareth?" Philip responds. "'Can anything good come from Nazareth?'...'Come and see.'"  Jesus sees Nathaniel coming toward him and says of him: "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him....'How do you know me?'...'Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.'"

Jesus comes to our countries, villages, cities, reservations, homes in search of us, as well. He finds us under "our fig trees," or does He? Are we too busy about many thing to stop and think, stop and reflect, stop and ponder, stop and be quiet?  If we pause, become silent, take time to seek Jesus, we open our heart to hear His voice. He says to us, as He said to Philip:  "Follow Me. Come to know me! Come, develop a personal relationship with Me. Good does come from growing close to Me. And good does come from the place where you were born. Other may not think so, but I do!"

Like Nathaniel, may our eyes be open to Jesus, the Son of God, in our midst, dwelling, in fact, in the very core of our being. We won't realize that, however, if we shun alone time, if we don't take time to sit under "our fig trees," if we do not seek the Lord regularly, consistently in personal quiet prayer  time! We might use that quiet time simply uttering the name of Jesus or gazing upon the face of the Lord, on contemplating a phrase from the psalms or a favorite Scripture passage.

Come, Follow Me; Trust Me

In today's Gospel, Matthew 4: 18-22, Jesus is walking by the Sea of Galilee. He sees two brothers, Andrew and his brother Peter, and calls out to them: "Come after me!"  A little further down the shore Jesus sees two other brothers, James and his brother John. They, too, are called by Jesus and, like Andrew and Peter, immediately leave their fishing business and families and follow Jesus. These four men never look back!  Their lives are changed forever.  We have that same example in Mary, the Mother of Jesus! She says "yes" to the angel Gabriel. Her life, too, is changed forever. Other women, once they heard the words of Jesus, follow Him all the way to the cross.

You and I also have been called to follow Jesus' Way. If we are being true to our call, our lives, too, are being transformed by grace. Walking in the footprints of Jesus is not easy and certainly was not easy for Mary or for any of the apostles or any other men/women who believed in Jesus. As with Jesus and Mary and the apostles and other disciples of the Lord, we, too, are often blindsided by "Herods" and challenged by "Pharisees". At times we have needed to change course along the way, sometimes becoming "refugees" in strange territories--that territory could be in our own family situations.  Nor are we spared sudden storms along the way, as did the apostles when out to sea in the middle of the night, about to drown, they wondered whether Jesus, who was actually sleeping through the storm, cared about the danger they were facing that stormy night.  We learn throughout our lives, that, though the terrain might be very difficult to navigate at times, God is always there.

Fit for the Kingdom!

In today's Gospel, Luke 9: 57-63, three different persons indicate a desire to follow Jesus. When invited to do so, each has an excuse before making a commitment.  Jesus points out that following Him is not easy. Sacrifice is required. What seems more important than an immediate, direct and complete response needs to be relinquished.  How often, when the Spirit calls, do we not say:  "I've gotta do this or that first." That to which the Spirit called us to give time and attention is then left undone, forgotten.

Jesus uses strong words at the close of this passage when speaking to the person who asked to first say farewell to his/her family at home and then follow Him. Jesus says: "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." Experiencing and building the Kingdom of God right here, right now, often depends on our obedience to the Spirit's invitations to do the right thing, the loving thing NOW, not later when whatever we chose to do instead crowds out the opportunity to grow in self-sacrificing love!

Lord, I ask forgiveness for the times that I have excitedly said that I want to follow you but when the rubber hits the road, so to speak, I have chosen my will, not yours!

Why Am I Looking for Jesus

In today's Gospel, John 6: 22-29, the 5000+ people who had been fed by Jesus go looking for him.  His disciples had left to go across the sea to Capernaum but Jesus had not gone with them.  When these people find Jesus, He reads their hearts, knowing that they simply  want more to eat. "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not look for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him, the Father, God, has set his seal."  The people then inquire of him what they can do "accomplish the work of God".  Jesus replies: "This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent."

I suggest that we ask ourselves the question: For whom/what am I looking? Am I truly looking for the things of heaven, for the strength I need to be God's co-worker here on earth in building a Kingdom of love, mercy and peace?  Am I looking for the wisdom to make a difference in the world and to bring forth new life out of that which depletes life, out of the stirred-up chaos, the "muddy messiness" of our lives so that new life emerges?  Or do I go running to Jesus simply to relieve my physical hunger  and not to be empowered as co-creator,  as peacemaker, as one who makes the new happen and who turns weapons "into plowshares"(cf Joel 3:10).

Behold the Lamb of God

In today's first reading, i John 3: 7-10, St. John says to us: "Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous, just as he [Jesus] is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the Devil, because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin, because God's seed remains in him [her]; he [she] cannot sin because he [she] is begotten by God.  In this way the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain; no one who fails to act in righteousness belongs to God, nor anyone who does not love his brother [sister]."

The questions that I need to ask myself are:

Am I allowing myself to be deceived?
Am I attempting to deceive myself or others by my words or actions or by my silence or failure to act?
Am I acting righteously, as Jesus is righteous? Or am I unjust/unfair in how I relate to people?
To whom do I belong?

This last question is a hard one but one that I need to consider!   When I involve myself in sinful behaviors and attitudes, I am not acting as a child of God but as a child of Satan, as were Adam and Eve in the act of original sin!  Thank God that Jesus has been sent into this world "to destroy the works of the Devil."  For those who cling to Jesus and who return to Jesus in humility and repentance following a sinful act, "the works of the Devil" are destroyed in them. Unfortunately, there are times when we are deaf and blind to our sinfulness and need prayers that we will grow in our awareness of when we have closed our ears and our eyes to sin at work within us. And that is why St. John the Baptist, in today's Gospel,  John 1: 35-42, says to us: "Behold, the Lamb of God."  May we, like the disciples who heard John, follow Jesus and stay with Him as our Savior, ass they did!

An Abundance of Graces from our God

St. Paul reminds us in today's first reading, 2 Cor 9: 1-10, that "God is able to make every grace abundant for you, so that in all things, always having all you need, you may have an abundance for every good work....The one who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness." Engaging in good works means dying to selfishness, pride, greed, and so much more that blocks graces that God wants to give us in "an abundance", as we are reminded in today's Gospel, John 12: 24-24, where Jesus says to us:  "Amen, amen, I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will preserve it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there also will my servant be. The Father will honor whoever serves me."

In what good works was I involved today?  In what ways did God supply the seed I needed or multiply the good I did today?  How did God "increase the harvest of [my] righteousness" today? To what, today, did I die in order to produce the fruits of honesty, humility, kindness, compassion and love?

Being Found by the Lord

In today’s Gospel, Jesus goes to Galilee and there finds Philip. Jesus says to Philip: “Follow me.”   Philip, in turn, finds Nathaniel and says to him: “We have found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth. Nathaniel asks Philip: “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip does not argue but says: “Come and see.”  Jesus sees Nathaniel coming “toward him and said of him, “Here is a true child of Israel. There I no duplicity in him.”  “How do you know me,” Nathaniel asks.  “Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree.” “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel,” Nathaniel responds.  “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this…Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man.”

Just as Jesus found Philip, so, too, does He find you and I. He says to us, as He said to Philip: “Follow me.”  What do you and I need to leave behind to be truly following the Lord. And once we have begun that journey, do we, in turn, invite others? Do we, like Nathaniel, ask: “What good can come out of Nazareth?”  What  good, do we ask, is there in following the Lord: going to church, practicing the faith, saying prayers as a family, teaching our children the faith, reading the Bible, speaking up for justice and right, reaching out to a needy neighbor, volunteering at a food pantry or a soup kitchen, being involved in parish activities? 

Perhaps we do not realize that everything we do in the name of the Lord and for and with the Lord prepares us to see “the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man,” and on us at our last hour!

Seeking to Know Jesus above All Else

“Let hearts rejoice who search for the Lord,” we pray in today’s responsorial psalm, Psalm 105.  For what am I searching?

In the first reading,  Philippians 3: 3-8a, we encounter Paul at a time in his life when what matters above all else was knowing Jesus. Nothing else mattered to him. “I…consider everything as a loss,” Paul says to us,  “because of the supreme good of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.” What a grace when, in our lives, we, too, have come to the realization that knowing Jesus is the supreme good. Nothing in this world matches or beats achieving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Nothing! Nothing!

There was a point in Paul’s life when he persecuted Christians, brought them in chains to the leaders of the Jewish religion.   He says in Phil. 3: 3-8a: “…in zeal I persecuted the Church, in righteousness based on the law I was blameless.”   As we read in this same passage, Paul belonged “to the race of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrew parentage, in observance of the law a Pharisee.”  On his way to seeking out Christians in order to send them to prison in chains, Jesus confronted Paul: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me”  (Acts 22: 7)?  From that moment on, Paul's life changed forever. He was no longer a persecutor of the Christian faith but a believer who gave his life for Christ.

Jesus knew Paul. He created Paul. He watched Paul and saw his passion for what was right. He intervened when Paul was obviously following a path that was contrary to the will of God.  Jesus knows you and me also. He created us. He watches us. He sees our passion for what is right and knows when we are marching down a path that is a dangerous one that leads us far from the Truth.  He knows when we are searching for God where God cannot be found.  He will stop us at the right moment, as He stopped Paul and turned Paul away from evil. He will do the same for us at a time chosen by the Lord!

Listening to the Voice of Christ

Today's first reading, Jeremiah 7: 23-28, opens with: "Thus says the Lord: This is what I commanded my people. Listen to my voice; then I will be your God and you shall be my people. Walk in all the ways that I command you, so that you may prosper."

Those words are not only spoken to Jeremiah but also to each of us.  We hear many voices in our heads.  How do we discern which one is God's voice? We only do that through the Holy Spirit's give of discernment, a gift for which we need to ask.  We know that God is Truth. We also know when we are acting on truth, unless we have hardened our hearts to the truth by repeatedly being deceitful and ignoring the voice of truth and following directions that are definitely against the truth that we hear in the depth of our being, in our heart where truth abounds.

We follow the truth when we follow Jesus, who is Truth.  Jesus says: "My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me (John 10: 27).  Do you know Jesus? Are you developing a relationship with Jesus? Do you take time to reflect upon the Scriptures, especially the Gospels, to get to know the Lord intimately? Do you take time each day to pray, to meditate, to sit quietly in the Lord's presence, letting the Lord gaze upon you in love and you upon Him in love?  That is how to train yourself, or better yet, let the Lord transform you into His disciple, a disciple of the Truth.

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Jesus' Promise of Eternal Life

In today’s Gospel, Mark 10: 28-31, Peter complains to the Lord:  “We have given up everything and followed you.”  This statement follows the passage in which Jesus says how “hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the Kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God.”  For a Jew that statement was mind bottling.  In their minds having riches was a sign of being blessed. “What do you mean that it is hard for a wealthy person to enter heaven. If a person who is blessed will, with difficulty, enter heaven, who will?  is the apostles’ reaction.” And then Peter says:  “We have given up everything and followed you.”  Jesus responds: “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

Truly, with Jesus, we are on the road to Calvary, to “persecutions,” to losses, to situations that will demand a dying within us on a daily basis: a dying to selfishness, a letting go of demanding that things be the way we want them to be, the acceptance of our routine being shattered by a kid having a tantrum, by an adult wanting us to be more generous with our attention, our time, our talent, in the reality of “being last instead of first,” and so on. Then, too, there is the dying within everyone when they are called to leave home for marriage, for religious life, for priesthood, to pursue the single life style and give one’s all to one’s career or other demands of discipleship. There is also a dying with the person when leaving home for college (or even when leaving home to attend kindergarten and the years of school that follow).  There’s also the dying in the hearts of parents when their children leave. None of us escapes the “persecutions” of life, the annoyances, if you will, of these kinds of “deaths.”

Our strength lies in Jesus’ promise: “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel who will not receive… eternal life in the age to come.” Yes, as we dies with Christ, we also rise with Him into eternal life.

This strengthens me? What about you?

Choose Life, not Death

Today’s readings, Dt. 30: 15-20 and Luke 9: 22-25, challenge us with the following statements: “Today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and doom….Choose life, then,…by loving the Lord, your God, heeding his voice, and holding fast to him.”  In the Gospel Jesus says to us: “If anyone wishes to come after me, he [or she] must deny…[him or herself] and take up his [or her] cross daily and follow  me. For whoever wishes to save his [or her] life for my sake will save it….”  Following Jesus, we know, leads to death and resurrection. Many times, we focus only on the dying part and get scared and flee the scene as the apostles did on Calvary. But following Jesus, dying with Jesus, always  leads to resurrection, to new life, new hope, deeper faith and stronger loving.  The dying is what is difficult. None of us cherishes letting go of that in us that needs to die if new life is to arise for us and in and through us.  

Recently, in a slump, I cried out to the Lord, offering Him the following prayer:

“Lord, I give you my all:

•   My holiness and sinfulness

•   My humility and my pride

•   My hope and my hopelessness

•   My manipulativeness and my straightforwardness

•   My generosity and my stinginess

•   My love and my hate

•   My serenity and my anxiety

•   My selflessness and my selfishness

•   My faith and my faithlessness”

The cross—my sinful nature, my weaknesses, my frustrations, my disappointments, my doubts and fears and anxieties, my pride—all of that I need to take up, acknowledge, bring to the Lord in humility and trust. 

Follow me, Jesus, says to us.  Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem. Deliberately! Even when He knew that the chief priests and leaders of his people were waiting to arrest him, charge him as a blasphemer and put him to death, He still went to this city to “sell all”.  Choosing death was, for Jesus, choosing life for all of us. Jesus truly believed in the resurrection. In John 2: 19, Jesus says to the Jews: “Destroy this sanctuary and in three days I will raise it up.”

Do I believe that when I allow Jesus to destroy sin in me, that He will raise me up in three days to new life, new hope, deeper love?

Walking in the Light

“I am the light of the world,” says the Lord; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”  That is the Communion Antiphon of today’s Mass or Liturgy.  How, we might ask ourselves, do people survive the disasters of their lives: the loss of loved ones, the despair of serious mental illnesses that throw them into a pit of darkness for weeks and months and even years?  How do people survive the loss of jobs that deprive them of means to support their families, to provide shelter and food, to save for their children’s future education?  How do people survive wars, their cities and homes and landscape being destroyed by bombs while terrorists hide in burned out buildings aimed to kill or maim anyone within range? How do Christians remain hopeful when fleeing persecution?  How to people of color stay hopeful when injustices abound and the lives of their children hang in a balance, should law enforcement brutally deprive them of their lives? How do children of immigrant families maintain faith when they face deportation because their  parents, undocumented,  have worked  long hours in our factories and on our farmlands faithfully doing work that their employers  seek them out to do and for which minimum wage is paid?

“Come to me all you who are burdened and I will refresh you,” says Jesus, the One who is their light in the darkness of their lives.  That same Person, the Son of God, whom, in faith, trust, and love we follow each day, is also the light in our lives.   This Jesus  knows what it is life to live with one’s life in the balance, as Scribes and Pharisees followed Him, seeking a way destroy Him. Unjustly, He was crucified by those who felt threatened by His way of living and who were fearful of who He really was. How many men and women and children are the victims of violence by those who are jealous of them, fearful of them, hating the very sight of them, not wanting them in their neighborhoods or living next door. Jesus knows the feeling!

“Come to me all you who are burdened and I will refresh you, says the Lord.”  “Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life,” even in the darkest of days.