Sep 7 Sun
Am I following Jesus?
The essential condition for true discipleship, demanded by Christ is total dedication, total commitment of oneself to Him. There can be no such person as a half-Christian. “He that is not with me is against me,” He said.
We cannot be for Christ on Sunday and against Him for the remainder of the week. To be His true followers, we must live our Christian life every day and the entire day. Following Christ means making our way to heaven. It is a life-journey. We have a limited time in which to complete this journey. Therefore, we must travel a certain distance each day.
Jesus’ words do not imply loving our parents less. Rather, He orders us to love the others as we love ourselves and to put down our life for others. If we concern ourselves only with our personal comfort, if we do not care for others, we have no right to be called Christians or to consider ourselves disciples of Christ. It must be a total self-surrender with deeds and in truth, not only by lip service.
Jesus does not ask for “something,” a token, from those who want to follow him. He asks for everything. He must become the center of all the plans and affections of his followers.
“But Jesus does no care for riches, nor for the fruits or the beasts of the earth, nor for the sea or the air, because they all belong to him. He wants something intimate, which we have to give him freely: My son, give me your heart. Do you see? God is not satisfied with sharing. He wants it all. It's not our things He wants. It is ourselves. It is only when we give ourselves that we can offer other gifts to our Lord."
We dedicate ourselves to His service by fulfilling our ordinary duties in a Christian way, and it must be noticed in concrete actions. This is our total commitment to Christ.
The married man or woman who is loyal to his or her life-partner and to the family, if there is one, and who provides diligently and honestly for his own and the family’s spiritual and temporal welfare, and who always does this with the intention of pleasing God, is following Christ and is moving steadily day by day towards heaven.
Christian life entails a radical change of attitude towards material goods: we must work to acquire them, and use them not as if they were an end in themselves, but as a means to serve God.
The Christian way of living demands directing material goods towards a higher goal, not only to us and to remedy the needs of others, but also to contribute to the glory of God.
The Lord expects us to offer Him our gifts, like the Magi: our gold (interior detachment), our incense (charity toward all), and our myrrh (our spirit of sacrifice in the little things).
If only, we fully realize that only Christ can give meaning to our life and fulfill it.
Lord, you made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it takes rest in you. When we discover this truth, we begin to take good advantage of the time beside the Lord.