Our world is into self-preservation. It is a mantra for almost every culture. In and of itself, it is not wrong. How we go about self-preservation is the crux of most people’s lives. That is what our readings and Gospel are bringing into light if we espouse Christian discipleship as the mainstay of our lives.
Some people, from the start of their life, know what they want to do and be. It is clear and they work hard to make sure nothing leads them astray, sometimes even to their own detriment. If their focus is on something worldly, they tend to ignore anything else because it leads them away from what they believe they want and deserve.
Most of us either don’t have a clue or might receive some inkling of what we believe will bring us a life that both takes care of us and others as is needed. At worst, we will make it work some way or the other without too much pain and suffering. And, so we go through all the paces to help us arrive at a place we can make the best for our lives.
And, then, there are a very limited number of people who have a passion to offer their lives in whatever way they can to help others who are in need. We call them saints and sometimes the Church canonizes them so we have models to help us live a better life and to reach out also.
Jesus, in St. Luke’s Gospel today, is revealing to us what it takes to be a true and faithful disciple of the Holy Trinity. At first glance, it seems a contradiction to His teachings. And, yet, it embraces them in such a way that in giving us a blunt path, it makes us ask the tough questions about who we really are as disciples. It puts us on notice that we can no longer just talk about following Jesus. We need to take actions that will both give answers to who we believe we are versus whom we actually are. Hopefully, this will bring us to be totally honest about our life as a Christian disciple.
Hate has no place in Christianity. And, yet, this is the word Jesus uses in our Gospel today. What we need to define is the context in which it is used. The parables give us some help in that after figuring the cost to accomplish something we make decisions to do or not do something. What Jesus is alluding to is that any aspect of a person or anything that lessens the freedom to follow truth and love is to be “hated” and transcended. Only then can we enjoy the happiness of a being totally fulfilled that Jesus offers us.
The central question we need to ask ourselves is what are we willing to do to be in a full relationship with God? This is especially important knowing that we are called to practice love and compassion for everyone no matter what our relationship with them is. To be a true disciple we must live the Christian life every day, 24/7. It is a total involvement in the causes for Him.
That is where carrying our cross comes into play. The cross of our life is about pains, privations and sufferings. How we deal with these determines if we have the capacity to rise above ourselves and our needs to serve others in need, as well. Do we make these the crux of how we live our life, or do we consider them as worldly annoyances that try to keep us away from practicing our faith as outlined by Christ in His teachings.
Let us take this week to be introspective about what our heart is feeling versus what our mind is telling us about how to live our life. If we our honest, we can combine the two and serve the Lord as He has both asked and challenged us to do as baptized Catholics. Will it be easy? Probably not! But then God never promised us an easy life. He promised us eternal salvation by acceptance of Him and all He teaches. The choice is ours.
Reading 1: Wisdom 9: 13-18b
Reading 2: Philemon 9-10, 12-17
Gospel: Luke 14: 25-33
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