Great crowds
were travelling 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.”
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Reflection:
Have you
already watched a life testimony about Jesus? Majority of these testimonies
deals with the many blessings that they’ve received from the good Lord. You would
also hear testimony about their
sufferings and crosses and how Jesus helped them carry it.
In our gospel
for today, Jesus speaks to us about the suffering and crosses that is
incorporated with our discipleship. Jesus tells us: “Whoever does not carry his
own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” What do these profound
words of Jesus convey?
This conveys that
if we want to follow Jesus we should also open ourselves with the carrying of
our own cross and enduring also our suffering. Because it is only through these
two that we could have that true feeling of companionship with Jesus. If we
say, that life is all bed of roses since we’ve followed Jesus. Then, we have
not really felt the true companionship of Jesus in our lives.
True
discipleship for Christ Jesus is felt only when we suffer for His sake, when we
are willing to carry our cross for His sake. And when we are willing to give
even our very lives so that others may live and have that encounter with Jesus.
This is the real essence of authentic discipleship for Jesus.
In the
silence of our hearts let us examine our own discipleship for Christ Jesus.
Have we already suffered for Him? Have we already carried our cross for Him? –
Marino J. Dasmarinas
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