Own Cross

Today’s Gospel Text: Now great multitudes accompanied him; and he turned and said to them, 26 "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. 28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' 31 Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. 33 So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-33

Reflection: Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. (vs.  27)

There is the cross of Christ which we as Christians are called to participate in a greater measure than what we normally do. 

The cross of Christ was endured for our salvation, so that we may be saved from the guilt and punishment that was due to us on account of our sins.

Though we are called to participate in the cross of Christ, Christ also primarily calls us to carry our own crosses.

What are these crosses of our lives which we are called to carry and which in a way is a gateway to our salvation and completely expresses our faith and love for Christ?

He reveals to us two things about this cross in the first verse of this passage (vs. 26).

The first is primary and is on account of him. In other words the crosses in our lives will be on account of him. If we have to follow him and want to be with him then the crosses are an unavoidable part of our lives. 

So it brings us to the second point on the cross, which is giving up or detaching oneself from our many attachments beginning with father, mother, brother, sisters, wife, children, etc.,  and above all even one’s own life and its many sinful desires and pleasures.

Sometimes this cross could be the mere obsessions for a good life and health for which sake we are willing to dabble with methods and techniques which are diabolic and contrary to the gospel.

May the Lord open our eyes to know this truth of the kingdom and our hearts to his grace so as to give up the many attachments that does not glorify him.

Prayer:  God our Father, we thank you for revealing to us the wisdom behind the cross of Christ.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Privilege

(Apology: Due to computer failure couldn't post the articles on time. Kindly bear up with me)  
Today’s Gospel Text: When one of those who sat at table with him heard this, he said to him, "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!" 16 But he said to him, "A man once gave a great banquet, and invited many; 17 and at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, 'Come; for all is now ready.' 18 But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it; I pray you, have me excused.' 19 And another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them; I pray you, have me excused.' 20 And another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.' 21 So the servant came and reported this to his master. Then the householder in anger said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and maimed and blind and lame.' 22 And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.' 23 And the master said to the servant, 'Go out to the highways and hedges, and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. 24 For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.'" Luke 14:15-24

Reflection: "Blessed is he who shall eat bread in the kingdom of God!"

Indeed blessed is the man who shall eat bread in the kingdom of heaven; for it is no ordinary bread!

If bread suggests life and is an essential food, then it not the quality of the food that matters but the type of food and where it is served that matters the most.

Hence who would not feel privileged to have received an invite from the great king and him having been thoughtful of him. One would really feel elated and rejoice greatly at the special invitation.

Immediately next; one would be definitely feel tempted to find one’s position and privilege to see who all are invited and thus evaluate this invitation in the light of those other invitees.

Then one would ask a few others to check whether they too stand invited and again compare themselves and ascertain for themselves where they stand.

If then they find that they have been treated like anyone else and the kings invitation is too general then the invite will stand undervalued and one may not respond at all to the kings invite.

Or even if one goes to the banquet they could go with mindsets which may bring about a casual approach to the banquet.

Imagine every individual approaching the banquet of the king with a similar approach.  How easily we loose our focus that the king is seeking to treat us special and gives this privilege only to the chosen few who may be the poor in spirit, oppressed by evil, life ridden with turmoil, rejected by the many. 

This is exactly how most Christians approach the greatest ever banquet prepared for us by the greatest every God and king of the whole universe. We do this by looking at each other and comparing ourselves with one another rather than responding to the invite as a special guest in need of the eternal invite.

Then we shall not be envying one another's roles and positions in the great assembly of God.

Prayer:  Lord, I now know that I need to respond to your invite with the right attitude and mindset but I tend to sin against you by not valuing the special privilege you have showered on me. 

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Repay

Today’s Gospel Text:    He said also to the man who had invited him, "When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbors, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. 13 But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you. You will be repaid at the resurrection of the just." Luke 14:12-14

Reflection: Our monetary world talks in terms of repayment. You pay and in return are repaid.

So also many actions of life including the whole justice system are based on similar principles.

There is a certain kind of logic about this system which cannot be ruled out, some even look at it as scientific and it maybe so.

Jesus is giving us a new measure and new system that will break every kind of logic and the very laws of science. It works on charity that comes from an authoritative source, which is Jesus.

It is a charity that was first practiced by him before he taught it to others. It is a charity that defies every law and ethics practiced by humans.

How can anyone so easily practice this kind of charity without expecting anything in return? Even though we may call ourselves Christian we practice what is contrary to our Christian calling to be generous beyond a certain measure; a measure which beats every human logic.

He who taught it also practiced it to the utmost when he gave himself for us sinful men in unconditional love.

When Christ invites us he invites us to practice charity in our invitation to the unfortunate and less privileged in the banquets we organize but when he practiced it he practiced it in a much more difficult manner. He offered his very self for sinful and ungrateful men who in no way can ever repay him.

No one can repay Christ for what he has done for us by his offering on the cross for our salvation.

The only repayment we can do, and which is no repayment, is a heart filled with love and lips overflowing with gratitude to God for what he has accomplished in Christ Jesus.  Yet these are mere words from our lips acceptable to God when done with a sincere heart.

Prayer:  Lord may I learn from your great sacrifice and seek to be generous with what you have given me.

  

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Love of Neighbor

Today’s Gospel Text: And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, "Which commandment is the first of all?" 29 Jesus answered, "The first is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.' 31 The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." 32 And the scribe said to him, "You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that he is one, and there is no other but he; 33 and to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices." 34 And when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God." And after that no one dared to ask him any question. Mark 12:28-34

Reflection: Love is the greatest commandment of all and I am sure no one will doubt that.

There are times I have often been in serious discussion and they have been individuals who have rendered the whole discussion flat by just one statement: “In the end what is important is that we love”

As if asserting that the horizontal commandment is the most important, they think that if we love one another is enough to enter into heaven. And what they say is even broadened to include the love of anyone and everyone.But in the end love no one.

In all these false assertions, the love that one practices is the love that seeks to please and compromise on the truth of God and sound doctrine.  Thus one even has to act crooked with all types of lies in order to present oneself as loving, gentle and kind.

There have been times, when I have heard experts in New Testament quoting St. Paul’s famous words on love, as if the horizontal dimension is the only important:element: “Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.”  Rom 13:8

What one fails to learn is that St. Paul's assertions is to a community that is born out of love for God and he is preaching to a community on the aspects of brotherly love.

Then there have been some who have quoted from St John’s letter: “If any one says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20

Here St. John in his letter is shocked about a community that is supposed to be loving God and yet not loving him enough by loving his commandment of loving one another. He sums it up well in the statement below:

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.” 1 John 5:2

Hence what Jesus asserts in the gospel about loving God is prime and important. 

Prayer:  Lord, I pray that I may love thee above everything and thus be an instrument of loving my neighbor too.

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

Watch Not

Today’s Gospel Text:  One Sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.

7 Now he told a parable to those who were invited, when he marked how they chose the places of honor, saying to them, 8 "When you are invited by any one to a marriage feast, do not sit down in a place of honor, lest a more eminent man than you be invited by him; 9 and he who invited you both will come and say to you, 'Give place to this man,' and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest place. 10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when your host comes he may say to you, 'Friend, go up higher'; then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at table with you. 11 For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 14:1, 7-11

Reflection: Why would one watch and more so watch over Jesus?

It could be either to imitate him or to see what faults they could find in order to condemn him.

As for us the safest thing to do before watching over someone or sending people as spies to watch over others is to watch over our hearts and mind first and see if we are right with God.

This also applies to those in authority and those who want to exercise authority over people by watching over them in order to discern their ways or simply spy on them.

By deliberately seeking to watch over people whom we may want to target, we are bound to fail, especially if it involves the work of God.  

    

"For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" 1 Cor 2:16

Ideally, if one wants to discern the authenticity of a person so as to discern whether they are God’s servant then the best thing to do is not to watch over that person but to watch in prayer for God’s insight about the person.

The human mind is limited and even petty in the light of the large heartedness of God and bound to make mistakes when it comes to judging a spiritual man.  He cannot be judged by anyone. (cfr. I Cor. 2:15)

On the other hand we could watch over a person in order to imitate him, yet it is never safe to do so without seeking the wisdom of God.  There are many who have been deceived by men in assumed humility but inside have been ravenous wolves. (cfr. Mt. 7:15)

These categories are not always found outside the church or among the laity but could be among the hierarchy too.  Hence the great need to trust in God, which is never an option, and carry on with life.

Prayer:  Lord, deliver me from those who work evil, and save me from bloodthirsty men. Ps 59:2

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us

We are His

Today’s Gospel Text:  All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me; 39 and this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up at the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day." John 6:37-40

Reflection: These words of Jesus are full of assurance and strength; “All that the Father gives me will come to me; and him who comes to me I will not cast out.”

This assurance should gladden anyone and should spur them on to continue in all faith with the Lord who assures us of his presence and strength.

This passage sometimes makes me wonder about its truth; what happened to Judas then, was he not cast out?

A close look at Judas’ story will help us realize that it is not Jesus who cast him out, neither has Jesus in his life time cast out anyone who has come to him.

It means that Jesus may have been reluctant to answer their prayers or may not answer them.

In other words, he may rebuke and correct us but he will never cast us out if we come to him.

It means that we may sin and may commit the many sins on account of our many weaknesses but he is not the one who is going to cast us out; for he came to save us and in him is our Salvation. 

What may happen is that by deliberately indulging in sinful activities and behavior that goes against God’s holy will we may open ourselves more and more to Satan and his rebellious ways and thus may find ourselves move away from Christ by our own free will.

Judas made a choice of going out from the presence of Christ and rejecting him. He had his plans and ideas in place and put it into practice little realizing that he was accomplishing the work of Satan and being his instrument.

Hence it is necessary for us not to remain in our sinfulness for long but to repent and turn to him who is merciful.

Prayer:  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. Ps 51:10-12

DD = Dedicated Discipleship:  Come grow in the Lord with us