Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
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.”
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Reflection:
A dying man was given two choices by the angel of God. One choice was to
be well again and live a worldly life and the other one was to die immediately
and enter the pearly gates to be with Jesus. The dying man chose to die and be
with Jesus, baffling as it may seem for many of us yet the dying man made the
right choice.
What is the essence of life if it’s only lived for this world? What is
the reason for living if it’s empty of Jesus’ presence? To choose to follow
Jesus over this world is to discover the real meaning of life in this world. To
fill your life with Jesus is to finally discover the real reason why you’re
existing and breathing in this world.
The core of life is a life lived in union with Jesus. Surely, Jesus will
forgive us if we contradict Him by immediately jumping into discipleship
without careful thinking -- Jesus is a God of love and forgiveness
anyway. Because if we carefully
think first we may be overwhelmed by the daunting task of discipleship. And we
immediately back out without even trying and experiencing how it feels to be a
follower or a disciple.
Whereas, if we immediately decide to follow Jesus we will right away have
an experience about how to be His follower. If we find it hard or difficult let
us never hesitate to call on Jesus. For He is always there for us, by our side
walking with us as we wade through the many challenges of
being His follower. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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