Count the Cost Before You Follow Me
Sep
5
Written by:
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Count the Cost Before You Follow Me
Pastor’s Column
23rd Sunday Ordinary Time
September 5, 2010
Jesus is on his way to Jerusalem in this Sunday’s gospel (Luke 14:25-33). Great crowds are following him. They have been left spellbound by his teachings; they have seen his miracles; he has fed them miraculously. They say that they are going to follow him anywhere. But in the midst of all this, Jesus turns suddenly and says something very shocking to this crowd:
“If anyone comes to me without turning his back on his father and mother, his wife and his children, his brothers and sisters, indeed, his very self, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me cannot be my follower. Luke 14:25-26
These are tough words, but what Christ really means is that my relationship with Christ is the single most important thing in my whole life . Getting to heaven is the real and actual goal of my life. Whatever is getting in the way of that has got to go, because to lose Christ, to lose heaven, is to lose everything.
The time of testing comes to every relationship, every person, every commitment, whether marriage or the priesthood, even our relationship with Jesus. He doesn't reveal this all at once, of course. This was true in the lives of the disciples, and it is true in our lives as well. For example, when a couple gets married, they really have no idea what they're going to be getting into. This was also true when I was ordained to the priesthood 13 years ago.
When we begin a relationship with God, we do not know where the Lord is going to take us. Yes, Jesus desires to take us to heaven, but there are periods of our lives when we will have to choose -- between God -- and something that we love, perhaps as much as we love God. This is the time of testing.
It is precisely when we are asked to choose between the things we love and our relationship with him that we will know just how things really stand. I am tempted to cheat on my income taxes because I think I can get away with it, but I know that is wrong. I know that I should pray, but instead, I spend too much time on my computer or watching television. Or, instead of going to mass, I go to the beach. Frankly, what this really means is that I love the beach (or whatever) more than I love God on that particular Sunday.
Sometimes God deprives us of things that we legitimately think we need. I was scheduled to be the main celebrant at a Mass for all the Salem area Catholic School teachers at Blanchet Catholic High School on Tuesday, and despite leaving in plenty of time, I encountered two road construction projects, a train at Keizer Station and a traffic jam on Lancaster. Here, God was asking me to relinquish my need to be on time! What can we do in such situations? We can realize that times, not of our own choosing, we will be put to the test, even when we know we are following his will. This is precisely the way he purifies our heart. Father Gary