Word to the Wise
Friday, August 9, 2019 - Friday in the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
[Deut 4:32-40 and Matt 16:24-28]"Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what an one give in exchange for his life?" [Matthew]
Ultimate questions can be very uncomfortable questions. Most of the time we would prefer to focus on making a living and trying to stay on reasonably good terms with God. In the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus can come across as being very demanding. The Sermon on the Mount lays out his expectations and if we say we want to be his disciples, he replies with words like those above. We are expected to give him our very lives! It doesn't mean that we abandon our neighbors but our love for them has to begin with our love for HIM! The whole point of following Jesus is to be of service to our neighbor, but we can get lost in good deeds and forget why we're doing them other than for some vague humanistic motives. The cross is seen as a negative element to be avoided whenever possible.
Convenient discipleship is an all too common thing now and Christianity has become domesticated in the western world. Our brothers and sisters under persecution elsewhere are carrying big crosses. Has Christianity lost its "punch" and is no longer challenging to us in our consumer culture? We do celebrate those who make the "ultimate sacrifice" in heroic deeds but do not see that as something we are all called to do. In the light of Jesus' words about discipleship, perhaps we need to reevaluate our beliefs. AMEN