NO WALK IN THE PARK
Let’s
pick up immediately the opening words of today’s Gospel passage for a
few insights. “Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and
addressed them....”
We should be able to picture easily the scene in our minds. Jesus was
like any of today’s celebrities who have a huge fan base. These
“groupies” followed Him literally wherever He went, with Him leading the
way in front. And then now, as though suddenly (in this instance of the
narrative), Jesus turned to His followers. Such a quick change of
movement and position indicates the kind of confrontation Jesus made
with His followers — something which we also need from time to time as
we follow Him. Meaning to say, Jesus will not hesitate to face us
squarely just so we can examine (and purify) our motives and intentions.
And
then He drops the bombshell, “If anyone comes to me without hating his
father and mother....”
An occasional “shock treatment” from Jesus can do us good. Ours
shouldn’t be a blind following, the result of a bandwagon effect, based
on the popularity of the one being followed. Jesus does have His
demands, which we read clearly in the Gospel. He minces no words and
sugarcoats no directives. For our part, we’d better think twice and be
sure of our commitment to follow Him.
There is definitely a price we must pay in following Jesus. We must calculate
the cost and face the risk. As we said, it’s a matter of really
following Jesus — which is not at all a walk in the park. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB
REFLECTION QUESTION: Are you willing to follow Jesus no matter what the cost?
Lord, during the times when it’s hard for me to follow You, strengthen me.
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