"If anyone 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. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. " - Luke 14:25-33
23RD SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
First Reading: Wisdom 9, 13-18b | Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 89, 3-4. 5-6. 12-13. 14, 17
Second Reading: Philemon 9b-10. 12-17 | Gospel : Luke 14, 25-33
Reflection:
What does the Lord mean when He said, “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.”? Does He mean that we cannot love our own family? On the contrary, the Church teaches that they are our primary vocation. Consequently, Jesus does not literally mean to hate them. Instead, we must learn to love God above all living and nonliving things on Earth, far above our families, friends, or selves. Have you ever experienced a time when you had to choose between doing what is right and what your loved ones want? What they want does not always go by with what the Lord wants. In these cases, we need to stand up to them, even if it means they will despise us. We must know how to choose God first, even when it is contrary to what our families urge us to do.
This is also true for our vocations. We all have our calling in our lives from God. Some are called to be priests and religious; others are called to serve God in their ordinary lives as laity. In these cases, your loved one might not always agree with you. Some will hate the service for God, which means less money or work. To others, it may also mean less time for them. As much as we love our family members, they are not perfect and our will, as humans, is not always in tune with God. However, if we strive to know God’s will and want to obey it, we must not let anyone hinder our way to God. It is our call to choose God first in all things, above our loved ones, above ourselves. The reward may not be fully seen and received here on Earth, but I pray that we may trust in God, whose reward far surpasses what we have given up for Him. Our sufferings here on Earth are way too little compared to what we could receive in Heaven, which is beyond what our eyes could see, and our minds could ever imagine. God’s goodness is forever unsurpassed. Amen. +
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Marga de Jesus, OLA Social Communications Ministry
