Last week we have reflected that the
safest way to Heaven is HUMBLENESS. And for the same we need to take Jesus as model and follow him.
23RD ORDINARY SUNDAY-C,0102016Wis 9:13-18b; Phlm 9-10, 12-17; Lk 14: 25–33 COMMITMENT TO FOLLOW JESUS
Jesus Christ who said “Come to me all you…..learn from me that I am humble and meek….”, now says “…whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple..”.
To imitate or to follow Jesus one needs to be his disciple and the disciple needs to have a total
COMMITMENT, fulfilling all its requirements. They are:
WILL OF GOD:
The first requirement to follow Jesus is
to know the will of God. And to
know the will of God we need the counselor, the Holy Spirit. “
Who ever knew your counsel except you had given wisdom and sent your Holy Spirit from on high?” (Wis 9:17)
Our knowledge and wisdom is limited. It has the boundaries. By itself it cannot know the will of God.
“For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. The corruptible body… the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns.” (wis 9:13,14). Even Jesus in the garden of Getsamany, was captured for a moment by the earthly body when he prayed ‘
Father! If it is possible take away the Chalice from me’. But soon He realized the will of God, saying ‘but is thy will, not my will’.
Hence we need to know the will of God for each moment and act accordingly. It is then as we learn from the Gospels, Jesus raises such people to the rank of his mother and brethren.(Mt 7:21)
The way to know the will of God is nothing else but through the
daily reading the Scriptures, Prayers,
reception of the Sacraments, the teachings of the Church in general and our Pastors in particular, the
people around us and the circumstances in which we live. It is for this reason we daily pray in Our Father, “
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven”.
WELL CALICULATED PLAN :
We all know that a
well calculated plan is essential for a safe and secure journey. So also to heaven. Jesus makes it very clear that the one who wants to construct a tower sits down first and calculates the cost whether the available funds are sufficient or not.
Hence in our journey as Jesus said in today’s Gospel reading, there are so many enemies who are ready to attack. It is here we need to
calculate our strength whether we have enough strength to conquer these enemies of physical (our body), spiritual (Satan) and social (World). Our body always tries to act against the spirit and has many concerns like desires, aspirations and all other physical needs which lead us to sin in the process satisfying them. The satanic power is always keeps us away from God depending upon human power, knowledge, strength and intellectuality. The world has its own attractions like the forbidden fruit for the first parents and diverts our minds and hearts from all the things that belong to God. We, in fact, definitely are weak. Therefore we need to be strengthened.
Our weakness should put on something strong. That strength is nothing else but CHRIST. We need his help and cooperation to fight with these evil forces.
To help us in this life situation, Christ during his earthly life prepared a
WELL CALCULATED AND PERFECT PLAN FOR OUR LIVES. That plan of life is “SACRAMENTAL LIFE”. This gives us strength and protects us from BIRTH TO DEATH.
As we are born into the sin affected world, the Baptism eradicates the original sin making us the children of God.
As we grew up we live in freedom and in need of strength, assistance and counsel. Hence the gifts of the Holy Spirit are given through the Sacrament of confirmation.
In the process of becoming strong and perfective, we are fed and nurtured with the Body and blood of Jesus.
To safeguard this strength spiritually to become blameless and sanctified we have the Confession and for the material body we have the sacrament of anointing.
For a healthy growth, healthy circumstances and for personal sanctification we have the bond of marriage.
And to assist us every moment with this perfect plan of life we have the PRIESTHOOD!
WHAT A PERFECT PLAN GOD HAS PREPARED FOR US AND FOR OUR WELLBEING!!!!!!!
As Jesus prepared a life plan for us, each parent has to prepare a well calculated plan for their children. The input for the child starts from the womb of its mother through the feelings of sorrows and joys of mother. As the child is raised we feed with lot of information regarding food and drink, culture and customs, justice and injustice and so on. Hence
you need to plan well for the future of your children, setting a goal ahead of them, finding out their own interests and capabilities, make them understand and lead them in the right track, if needed changing. However w
e need to remember till they reach the age of 14-16 we tell the children what to do and not to do, but after that they begin to tell us what we should not tell them!! Yet, you must.
A couple brought their daughter who was graduated in junior college and attended for eamcet coaching for one long year but secured low marks. Their dreams for the child to admit into medical courses are shattered. The furious mother poured out in anger, ‘we did this, we did that we provided beyond our capacities and she did like this’. After all the blow, the child responded with a reddish face, ‘mom, you are the cause for this. I am disturbed by your scoldings!’. A shock! The parents were speechless. I told the parents: It is true! you had a perfect plan for the child that she should become a doctor, provided everything more than is needed, but you failed to execute the plan properly. You neither corrected nor scolded in the lower grades like 7th, 10th, or college and just few months back only you realized what she is. You did not mind to train her in reaching her aim but scolded when you realized she is off track for which she is not ready to accept. Hence she holds you responsible! I remember when I was in high school I told my mom of my intention to become priest. She was not happy. She tried through many people like village authorities and prominent political people in the village to change my mind. Consequently I stopped going home for holidays from boarding for several years until she gave green signal. You know, even today though I am chancellor of the Diocese, when she finds me in deep thought or gloomy in certain circumstances, she says: “my son, if you are not happy come home”. That is simple of a mother,that in fact strengthens me more and more.
SACRIFICIAL ATTITUDE: The blood relationship like father, mother, husband, wife, brothers and sisters etc. in this world is very strong. But the plan of life prepared by Jesus calls us to hate them; not only them, but all that we love properties, money and so on. Is it possible? Yes, literally for some, like St Francis of Sales. Otherwise it’s highly impossible. What actually Jesus means here is: we are to love our parents, siblings, spouses, and indeed everyone else, except when they become obstacles in our bid to win the crown of eternal life.
The clear example:
on Saturday, September 8, 2001 in the women’s finals of the US Open tennis tournament in Flushing, New York. For the first time, the world watched a sportive and emotional roller-coaster as two sisters who love themselves so much that they live in the same house and share the same hotel room fought each other. Could you imagine what was going on in the minds of Venus Serena Williams as they battled and slugged it out against each other, suspending their love for each other and at least temporarily “hating” each other? They had to “hate” each other because the one was standing in the way of the other becoming the world champion. Therefore we need to be ready to sacrifice whatever is obstacle on our way to eternal life and
even if we don’t hate we need to keep such things away as long as they block our way.
BEARING OUR OWN CROSS:
Our Cross is our life.
The joys and sorrows, the favors and difficulties, the
victories and defeats are all part of our own Cross. We need to accept them equally. Christ never wanted us to run away from the difficulties and problem. When he prayed for his disciples at the last supper he did not ask his father to take them away from this world but to guard them from evil.(Jn. 17:14-15) We need to bear in mind the words of St Paul: “
we are afflicted…but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2Cor.4:8-10)
When we commit ourselves to follow Jesus fulfilling the above four requirements it is definite that we have the entry into eternal life as Jesus promised.
-FR JOHN RAJU JUNJUNURI Email:
[email protected];
Pn: 845 523 3242