On A Colt, The Foal Of An Ass

 

On this Palm Sunday, we commemorate Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. 

He comes as a king to take the throne of David. But he is no earthly king. He does not enter on a muscular steed, but on a lowly donkey. It is not a well equipped army that escorts him through the gates of the royal city but a band of peasants. And he does not enter the city to take it by force but to surrender himself to a sentence of death. 

Jesus is not at all what we would expect from someone who claims to be the Son of God and Savior of the World.

 If we are to be his followers then we cannot live only for our own comfort and well-being but for his glory. 

But if we do take up our cross and follow him, we will know a joy and a peace which no one can ever take from us. And we will have treasure in heaven more glorious than we could ever hope for or imagine.

Seeing For Ourselves

If only I could see Jesus as the disciples did, then I could believe.

It is easy to envy the first followers of Jesus. With their own eyes, they saw Him give sight to the blind, open the ears of the deaf and raise the dead. They knew the features of His face, the timber of His voice and the charisma of His personality. They spoke with Him and witnessed for themselves the love He had for them.

Living some two thousand years later, it can be tempting for us to think that if we had their experience, we would find it easier to believe all the claims of the gospel and even easier to live them out. We think that this is especially true about the feast we celebrate today, the Resurrection. If He appeared to us, if we were able to see His Risen Body, if we were able to touch Him as Thomas did, then we would have no doubts whatsoever. We would put our faith without reservation in Jesus Christ, the Risen Lord.

However, reading today’s gospel, quite a different scene is played out. Mary Magdalene, Peter and John are not the confident disciples we would expect. More than anyone else, they were Jesus’ most intimate friends. Yet they are confused. They do not know what to make of the scene that is unfolding before them. They are not sure what they are to believe.

In many ways, they find themselves in the same situation we do. Like us, Jesus has not yet appeared to them in His resurrected body. Like us, the only evidence they have that Jesus has risen is an empty tomb. And yet, with so little to go on, we are told that John, the disciple Jesus loved, believed. He had not seen Him with His own eyes. He did not yet understand the Scriptures which prophesied that He would rise from the dead. And yet he believed as we are called to do.

Gathered here today, can we believe that Jesus rose from the dead? Let us consider the evidence that we have - the empty tomb. Is that enough to put faith in the resurrection?

It is clear that Jesus died and was placed in a tomb. Three days later, that tomb was found to be empty and Jesus’ body was never found. Is there a theory that can explain for us how that could have happened?

Some have suggested that the disciples stole His body. But how likely is that? The gospels tell us that the tomb was already empty when the women arrived there. We know also that guards were placed at the tomb by the Romans and that there was a large stone blocking its entrance. Is it possible that the disciples who had fled during the crucifixion and were in hiding in the upper room could suddenly find the courage to confront the Roman guards and steal Jesus’ body?

Also, history tells us that all of the apostles except Saint John were martyred for the faith. Yet there is no historical record that any of them, even under the most horrific of tortures, confessed that Jesus’ body had been stolen. If the disciples had conspired to fake the resurrection, would not one of them have admitted it?

There are some who claim that the Roman authorities took Jesus’ body so that the disciples would not have a place to gather and remember Him. As the story goes, they hoped that once they discovered that Jesus’ body was missing, they would leave Jerusalem and forget all about Him. However, this claim also does not stand up to scrutiny. As faith in Jesus’ resurrection began to spread throughout the empire, would not the authorities have produced His body to prove that He had not risen and squash the claims of the apostles?

Finally, there are some who explain the empty tomb by claiming that Jesus had not really died on the cross. He only had gone into shock or fallen into a coma. When they placed Him in the tomb, he only appeared to be dead. After resting for a few days, He revived. The disciples then interpreted this as His having been raised from the dead.

However, like the others we have mentioned above, this claim also makes little sense. Consider what Jesus’ endured. He had been severely whipped and beaten. For three hours, He hung on the cross with nails run through His hands and feet. He experienced a tremendous loss of blood. With all the trauma He suffered, is it possible that all He needed to recover was a couple days rest? Even if He had been taken to a modern day intensive care unit, it would take months of blood transfusions, surgeries, physical therapy and other medical interventions to get Him back on His feet. It is not possible that. given all He suffered, He could have healed up in such a short period of time.

Like the disciples, we are confronted with an empty tomb. When we consider the evidence, there is only one logical conclusion we can draw. Jesus was raised from the dead as He predicted He would be. Though we have not seen Him, that does not mean that we have no reason to believe. We have the empty tomb and the testimony of Scripture. It was enough to make John believe. It is also enough to make us believe as well.

In the next few weeks, we will read the gospel accounts of how Jesus appeared to the disciples, showing Himself to be very much alive. We will notice that those appearances always take place on “the first day of the week”, that is, Sunday, the day of the resurrection. It is also the day that Christians gather to celebrate the Eucharist. At Mass, when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ, Jesus appears to us. He shows Himself to be alive. We receive Him into our bodies and we become one with Him.

As it turns out, we have all that we need to believe that Jesus is risen from the dead and alive among us. Blessed are we who have not seen yet believe. Now we must go and put that faith into practice.

Tallying The Cost

While He walked the earth, Jesus always spoke in language and images which the people of His day could understand. Most of the time that meant using examples from the world of farming. In first century Palestine, most people would have worked as farmers at one time or another or otherwise would have kept at least a small garden to provide them with fresh food. Describing the Kingdom of God, then, using images of seeds, harvest and growing seasons would make sense to most people back then.

However, in our day, we are mostly removed from the world of agriculture. For the majority of us, the closest we get to the farm is our weekly trip to the grocery store. We may be able to understand what Jesus means when He uses such examples, but they are not part of our everyday lives in the twenty-first century.

In today’s gospel, however, Jesus uses an example which all of us can understand even over two thousand years later. It is the image of making a major purchase or undertaking a major project. As Jesus puts it, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?” None of us may be planning to build a tower, but we have at one time or another made a major purchase or have undertaken a major project in our homes. There are three questions we need to ask ourselves before we begin: What will it cost? Can we afford it? and Will it be worth it?

These questions are important to ask not only for managing our household budgets but also for our walk of faith. There is a cost to following Jesus. It is not easy and requires sacrifice. As we walk this life alongside Him we must ask ourselves these questions along the way.

First of all, what will it cost to follow Jesus? Usually when we make a major purchase such as an automobile or kitchen appliance, the cost that the store advertises and the actual cost vary widely. The store will often display a lower price to draw us in and then hit us with all kinds of hidden fees once we are committed. However, it is very different with Jesus. He tells us upfront that following Him is difficult and He puts it in very blunt language - “You must hate your mother, your father and your own life.” “You must pick up your cross daily and follow me” “You must renounce all your possessions”. Whenever we read such bold words from Jesus we have to understand that He is exaggerating to make a point. Nonetheless He means what He says.

What is the cost of following Jesus? It is rejection. When we start living the gospel seriously, we will experience ridicule. People will talk about us behind our backs. Many people we thought were our friends will stop calling us. And even our family members will start distancing themselves from us. Why? Because we do not join in with their gossip, we have no interest in whatever foolish television shows they are following and we defend the Church when it is being criticized unfairly. All this makes us strange and unusual to most people who are steeped in this world’s crazy values. If Jesus says to us, “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” it is because He is preparing us for the rejection we will face once we decide to live for Him.

Secondly, we must ask ourselves, can we afford it? Can we afford to face rejection for Jesus? It is difficult and painful to have the people we love turn their backs on us. However, when we decide to follow Jesus we do not do so alone. We become part of a community of believers who are ready to embrace us with their love and friendship. The decision to follow Jesus is one we make alone, but as soon as we do, we find that we are not traveling alone. Some of the most beautiful friendships we will make are with others who share our faith in the Risen Lord. They are friends who will not judge us, who will understand the struggles we face in living the good news and who will be by our side in good times and bad times. We can afford the cost because Jesus will replace whatever friends we do lose with even better friends, ones who share our values and who can give us real support.

Thirdly, we must ask ourselves if it is worth it. Is it worth it to face rejection, to give up old habits and to change our lives to follow Jesus? That is a question each of us must ask of ourselves. It is a question which each of us will have to answer in the silence of our hearts. Many will decide that the cost of following Jesus is too high. It is just too easy to follow the way of the world. On the other hand, many have and do say “yes” daily. Why? Because they have discovered that nothing this world can offer compares to having a personal relationship with Jesus. Like any good friendship, loving another person makes any sacrifices it may entail worthwhile. In just the same way, loving Jesus, being by His side, knowing the consolation of His presence in our lives makes rejection from our family members, ridicule from our friends and the sacrificing of pleasures worthwhile. Just as His closest apostles and disciples experienced, being with Jesus makes all the difference. There is nothing the world can offer that will compare with it.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. It is there that He will do the Father’s will and offer Himself up to death for the salvation of the world. There is a vast crowd following Him. However, He knows that once they get to Jerusalem the crowd will get smaller as the authorities begin to persecute Him. It will get smaller still when Jesus is arrested and finally put to death. Of the vast crowd which followed Him to Jerusalem, only three were left at the foot of the cross. For this reason, Jesus wanted to make it clear to them what it would cost to follow Him. Jesus turns to us today with the same questions - Do you know the cost of following me, can you afford it and is it worth it to you? These are questions we must ask ourselves everyday without losing sight of the fact that Jesus will be with us through it all and that He will give us whatever we need to stay faithful to Him until the end.

Hearing God's Call

After graduating from the University of North Carolina, Jason Brown was one of the best  American football players at his position. He was soon signed for a contract worth 37.5 million dollars. However, after 12 years in the league, he decided at the age of 29 to give it all up. Instead of signing with a team, he bought a one thousand acre farm in North Carolina. Some of his teammates wondered whether he had taken too many shots to the head. His agent told him that he was making the worst decision of his life. Nonetheless, he was determined.

What motivated Jason Brown to give up a promising and lucrative career for the simple life of a farmer? He felt in his heart a deep need to provide for the less fortunate. After learning that one out of five people in North Carolina do not have enough food to feed themselves and their families, he knew he had to do more than donate money to charity. He committed himself to using his farm to provide fresh vegetables and produce to those families. Calling his business, “First Fruit Farms”, he pledged to donate the first yield of his crops to area soup kitchens and food pantries.

Though it is a far cry from the excitement and glamour he experienced playing in the National Football League, Jason finds working on the land and providing for others fulfilling. When describing his new life to CBS news he was quoted as saying, “When I think about a life of greatness, I think about a life of service.”

We live in a culture that glorifies fame and wealth. Even believers can be swept up in the illusion that if we had more money or more glamorous lives we would feel better about ourselves and all our problems would melt away. However, as the story of Jason Brown teaches us, it is the life of service to others that is the most fulfilling. Seeking to enrich others rather than ourselves is the real secret to a happy life.

Of course, we have to imagine that the decision to leave the career he had worked hard to establish did not happen overnight. There must have been many evenings when he lay awake wondering what God’s plan for him was. There must have been many days when he asked himself whether there was more to life than throwing a football around. There must have been many hours of prayer and soul-searching before making such a huge change in his lifestyle.

Such was the experience of Samuel in today’s first reading. He heard God’s call but was still too young to understand who was calling him. It was not until he received some guidance from the older and wiser Eli that he could answer, “Speak, for your servant is listening” and hear the voice of God. We do not always recognize the voice of God when He first calls us. However, He never gives up on us, stirring our hearts again and again until we finally stop and listen.

Are you feeling restless? Do you feel that your life is not as fulfilling as you expect it to be? Do you wonder whether there is more that you should be doing but do not know where to look? It could be that God is stirring your heart, calling you to something greater. Finding out what it may be is as simple as slowing ourselves down to listen to what is going on within us. Like Samuel, all we need to do is find a quiet place and pray, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

It can be tempting when we sense a void within us to want to fill it with noise. We think that watching a movie or listening to music will drown out the discontent echoing in our souls. Other times we may be tempted to fill our schedule with activities so that we will be too busy to slow down and attend to the cry of our heart. We can also try to fill what is lacking in our lives with toys, clothes or technology. However, none of these distractions ultimately satisfies the longing of our soul. There is no way of silencing the call within us except to slow down and listen to it.

Most likely, as Jason Brown discovered, the call we are hearing is to serve others. It may be as dramatic as leaving our job to work with the needy or to dedicate ourselves to religious life. Or it may be as simple as volunteering at a soup kitchen or hospital. Whatever it may be, we will never find out unless we are willing to listen to the stirring of God in our soul.

One thing is certain. We can never find happiness and fulfillment in this world if all we do is live for ourselves. All it can bring us is endless dissatisfaction and anxiety. When we live only for ourselves, nothing is ever enough. We blame others for not meeting our needs and become collapsed in on ourselves. Only when we decide to live for others do we find our real identity and purpose.

John the Baptist is our shining example. The whole purpose of his life was to point to Jesus. Even before he met the Lord, he dedicated himself to preparing the way for the One who was greater than he. And when Jesus did appear, he was quick to point him out to others, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” Those who were following him left to follow Jesus. In that moment, John the Baptist must have experienced his deepest sense of fulfillment and happiness because he was leading others to Jesus.

We are gathered here today to interrupt our busy schedules, to slow down and to listen to the God who stirs in our hearts. He is calling out to us to make us aware of how much He loves us. Then, He is calling us to share that love with others. God has a plan for each of us. We can only avoid Him for so long. Today is the day to stop searching for our purpose elsewhere and to say, “Speak, for your servant is listening.

What's In It For ME?!

Why should I?

What’s in it for me?

What will I get out of it?

Have those questions ever run through your mind when someone has asked you for help? Our society teaches us that we should never do anything for free. There should always be something in it for us whether it be money, or influence or even just emotional satisfaction.

However, we can clearly see how this selfishness has damaged relationships and families. When we put our own comfort before the needs of others, society begins to break down. Families cannot function because spouses are so busy pursuing their own interests that they stop communicating with each other. And once that happens, they cannot meet the needs of their children. We only have to look at our schools, our prisons and even our parishes to see the toxic effects. It is a downward spiral that drags all of society down with it.

In today’s second reading, Saint Paul urges us not to be conformed to this world in its selfishness. We are instead to be transformed by the renewal of our mind so that we can look at life in a different way, not from the perspective of our own needs and wants but from the point of view first of God and then of our brothers and sisters. We are to put the interests of others before our own. We are to make sure that the needs of our brothers and sisters are met before we take care of our own needs.

This mindset is absolutely foreign to our present culture. We are taught to put ourselves first and to let others take care of themselves. But imagine what our world could be like if we started to live the self-sacrificing love shown to us by Jesus. Imagine a world in which everyone had enough to eat because neighbor shared with neighbor. Imagine families in which mothers and fathers could work out their differences and raise their children to care for others. Imagine neighborhoods transformed because people began watching out for one another. All this could be possible if, through the grace of God, we could begin to live the gospel message of self-sacrificing love.

If a world transformed by love is going to be a reality, then it must begin with you and me. We can only bring it about by making the conscious effort to put the needs of others before our own. But how do we even begin? As always, it is Jesus who shows us the way. In today’s gospel, He gives us the antidote for our selfishness by telling us that we must deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him.

First, we must learn to deny ourselves. We learn from an early age that if we are going to accomplish anything, we have to learn to say “no” to ourselves. We cannot get our homework done unless we turn off the television. We cannot learn how to play a sport without sweating through practices. The same is true in our life of faith. To break the selfishness that locks our world in destructive competitiveness, we must learn how to say “no”. It starts in small ways by going without desert at supper or by not buying an extra pair of shoes that we know we do not need. Then we begin donating the money we save to help the poor. Going a step further, we miss a meal so that we can volunteer at a homeless shelter. Or we lose a good night’s sleep because we are manning the phones at a suicide hot-line. Before we know it, our small acts of self-denial are transforming us into saints.

Second, we must take up our cross. Each of us has a burden to carry. It could be sickness, anxiety, a challenging job or family members who constantly hurt us. It is natural for us to want to avoid difficulties and suffering at all costs. But Jesus teaches us to look at our life’s burdens in a new way. They are not there to punish us but to help us on the way to holiness. By accepting the burdens of our daily lives and offering them up to God out of love for him, in atonement for our sins and for the conversion of sinners, we grow in patience and in love. By realizing that Jesus is carrying our cross with us, our burden does not seem as heavy. Then we are not so overwhelmed with our own problems that we cannot reach out and help others to carry their crosses.

Third, we must follow Jesus. Our eyes must always be fixed on our Lord and Savior. He walks ahead of us marking a sure pathway forward. We learn from Him that we do not have to be afraid. We do not have to hoard money because He will provide for us. We do not need to have a big house and lots of clothes to feel good about ourselves, because He gives us the dignity of being called sons and daughters of God. Knowing that Jesus is always by our side frees us to care for others because we know He will care for us.

There is much that is wrong with our world today. All the problems we are faced with can overwhelm us and make us want to give up. While there are no easy answers or quick fixes, there is something each of us can do. We can attend to the needs of those around us, the people God has placed in our lives. By denying ourselves, picking up our cross and following Jesus we can begin to make a difference. At first, it may not seem as if there is anything in it for us. But we will experience the joy of bringing a smile to a tired woman’s face, the satisfaction of helping a neighbor make it through another day and the peace that comes with doing God’s will.

Leaving It Behind

Jesus was a master story-teller. He crafted the parables he told carefully so that his audience could both relate to them and be surprised by them. Whoever heard Jesus speak could not help but think long and hard about the point he was trying to make.

The parables in today's gospel reading are no different. Jesus tells us that the Kingdom of God is like a valuable treasure buried in a field and like a priceless pearl which a merchant seeks. In both cases, the men are willing to sell everything they have to acquire them. The treasure and the pearl fill the men with such joy, in fact, that they rush out to rid themselves of everything else that once held value to them. Those belongings now seem worthless because of the prospect of acquiring something so much greater. Jesus' message is simply this: there is no treasure as valuable as God. And, following Jesus is worth giving up everything we have.

The crowds listening to Jesus knew he wasn't exaggerating. They looked at the example of Jesus himself. He left a simple life in Galilee to preach the good news of the Kingdom of God. Because of his preaching, he had no home of his own and no wealth of his own. Jesus had left everything and everyone behind to proclaim the good news. Eventually, Jesus would give his very life on the cross. Serving his Heavenly Father was a priceless treasure for Jesus, a treasure which made everything else seem worthless.

As Jesus was speaking, the crowds could also look to the apostles to know that he wasn't exaggerating. To follow Jesus, the apostles had left their jobs, their homes and their families. When Jesus called them, they joyfully dropped everything to join him in spreading the good news. The apostles had discovered in Jesus a treasure which was worth pursuing at all costs.

Two-thousand years later, there are people who still sell all they have to follow Jesus. They are the people with good paying jobs who, upon discovering the love God has for them and the message of Jesus, decide to leave those jobs to serve God in religious life. They are the doctors and nurses who leave lucrative practices to heal the sick in third world countries. They are life-long politicians who risk their careers to speak out against abuses of human rights and to defend the unborn child's right to life. They are young people who risk being ridiculed and rejected by their friends to live a pure and chaste life, saving themselves for the one who will be their life-long love.

What has compelled people throughout the centuries to abandon all they have known and all they have loved to serve Jesus with all their heart and all their strength? Quite simply, it is because they have fallen in love with the person of Jesus. They have discovered in Jesus a God who knows them, who forgives them and who loves them. This love makes everything else seem worthless. Because of this love, they want everyone to know the God they have discovered. Jesus himself is the priceless pearl. Jesus himself is the valuable treasure.

Most of us gathered here today will not be called upon to sell everything to follow Jesus. For most of us, following Jesus will be a simple act of being faithful to him by being good parents, good citizens and good children. However, following Jesus always costs something. 

First of all, following Jesus costs us time. Even though Mass rarely lasts more than an hour, there are other things we could be doing with this time. And, how many times are we distracted during Mass thinking about things we need to get done? All of us give this hour to God because we believe that something special happens here. We believe that Jesus is truly present in his word and in his Body and Blood. And so, we gladly sacrifice this hour to meet Jesus, our friend and brother.  

Secondly, following Jesus very often costs us friendships. When we take our faith seriously, it is a very common thing that there are some friends who just don't understand why we have changed. They may even think we are hypocrites and phonies because they knew the way we used to be. They haven't yet discovered the priceless pearl we have discovered. No matter how dear those friends may have been to us before, those relationships often fall by the wayside when we decide to follow Jesus.

Time and friendships are just two examples of things we leave behind to acquire the priceless pearl and the valuable treasure. Each of us could probably name several others. But, no matter what it is we are called to leave behind, like the men in the parable, we ultimately do it with joy because we are receiving something infinitely greater than anything this world can offer.

It could also be that, for many of us here today, our faith is still a buried treasure, a treasure we have not yet discovered. In fact, no matter how advanced we are in our journey with Jesus, there is always so much more to be discovered. We can never exhaust all the riches of our faith. This likewise gives us great joy to know that there is still so much to learn up to the day that we meet Jesus face to face in heaven.

Jesus is offering each of us a priceless treasure. It is not the type of treasure, however, that we can keep to ourselves. Rather, it is the type of treasure whose value we discover as we share it with others. We are to go from this place filled with joy at the priceless pearl we have discovered and tell others about it so that they can share our joy. There is no joy greater than discovering the depth of the love God has for us and the mercy he has shown us by forgiving us our sins through the blood of Jesus.

What does it cost? Can I afford it? Is it worth it?

 

While He walked the earth, Jesus always spoke in language and images which the people of His day could understand. Most of the time that meant using examples from the world of farming. In first century Palestine, most people would have worked as farmers at one time or another or otherwise would have kept at least a small garden to provide them with fresh food. Describing the Kingdom of God, then, using images of seeds, harvest and growing seasons would make sense to most people back then.

However, in our day, we are mostly removed from the world of agriculture. For the majority of us, the closest we get to the farm is our weekly trip to the grocery store. We may be able to understand what Jesus means when He uses such examples, but they are not part of our everyday lives in the twenty-first century.

In today’s gospel, however, Jesus uses an example which all of us can understand even over two thousand years later. It is the image of making a major purchase or undertaking a major project. As Jesus puts it, “Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion?” None of us may be planning to build a tower, but we have at one time or another made a major purchase or have undertaken a major project in our homes. There are three questions we need to ask ourselves before we begin: What will it cost? Can we afford it? and Will it be worth it?

These questions are important to ask not only for managing our household budgets but also for our walk of faith. There is a cost to following Jesus. It is not easy and requires sacrifice. As we walk this life alongside Him we must ask ourselves these questions along the way.

First of all, what will it cost to follow Jesus? Usually when we make a major purchase such as an automobile or kitchen appliance, the cost that the store advertises and the actual cost vary widely. The store will often display a lower price to draw us in and then hit us with all kinds of hidden fees once we are committed. However, it is very different with Jesus. He tells us upfront that following Him is difficult and He puts it in very blunt language - “You must hate your mother, your father and your own life.” “You must pick up your cross daily and follow me” “You must renounce all your possessions”. Whenever we read such bold words from Jesus we have to understand that He is exaggerating to make a point. Nonetheless He means what He says.

What is the cost of following Jesus? It is rejection. When we start living the gospel seriously, we will experience ridicule. People will talk about us behind our backs. Many people we thought were our friends will stop calling us. And even our family members will start distancing themselves from us. Why? Because we do not join in with their gossip, we have no interest in whatever foolish television shows they are following and we defend the Church when it is being criticized unfairly. All this makes us strange and unusual to most people who are steeped in this world’s crazy values. If Jesus says to us, “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” it is because He is preparing us for the rejection we will face once we decide to live for Him.

Secondly, we must ask ourselves, can we afford it? Can we afford to face rejection for Jesus? It is difficult and painful to have the people we love turn their backs on us. However, when we decide to follow Jesus we do not do so alone. We become part of a community of believers who are ready to embrace us with their love and friendship. The decision to follow Jesus is one we make alone, but as soon as we do, we find that we are not traveling alone. Some of the most beautiful friendships we will make are with others who share our faith in the Risen Lord. They are friends who will not judge us, who will understand the struggles we face in living the good news and who will be by our side in good times and bad times. We can afford the cost because Jesus will replace whatever friends we do lose with even better friends, ones who share our values and who can give us real support.

Thirdly, we must ask ourselves if it is worth it. Is it worth it to face rejection, to give up old habits and to change our lives to follow Jesus? That is a question each of us must ask of ourselves. It is a question which each of us will have to answer in the silence of our hearts. Many will decide that the cost of following Jesus is too high. It is just too easy to follow the way of the world. On the other hand, many have and do say “yes” daily. Why? Because they have discovered that nothing this world can offer compares to having a personal relationship with Jesus. Like any good friendship, loving another person makes any sacrifices it may entail worthwhile. In just the same way, loving Jesus, being by His side, knowing the consolation of His presence in our lives makes rejection from our family members, ridicule from our friends and the sacrificing of pleasures worthwhile. Just as His closest apostles and disciples experienced, being with Jesus makes all the difference. There is nothing the world can offer that will compare with it.

In today’s gospel, Jesus is on the road to Jerusalem. It is there that He will do the Father’s will and offer Himself up to death for the salvation of the world. There is a vast crowd following Him. However, He knows that once they get to Jerusalem the crowd will get smaller as the authorities begin to persecute Him. It will get smaller still when Jesus is arrested and finally put to death. Of the vast crowd which followed Him to Jerusalem, only three were left at the foot of the cross. For this reason, Jesus wanted to make it clear to them what it would cost to follow Him. Jesus turns to us today with the same questions - Do you know the cost of following me, can you afford it and is it worth it to you? These are questions we must ask ourselves everyday without losing sight of the fact that Jesus will be with us through it all and that He will give us whatever we need to stay faithful to Him until the end.

There is no Fine Print in the Bible

Marketers are more clever at getting us to open and read junk mail. Worthless advertising used to be easy to identify and even easier to throw away. Now, however, envelopes are stamped with the words “urgent”, “open immediately”, or “time sensitive information.” They come disguised as government correspondence or as airline tickets. Or we are told that we must respond immediately to claim a prize that is waiting for us. More often than we would like to admit, we are tricked into opening the mail just in case it really is important. And, more often than not, we find out that it was exactly what we thought it was - junk.

However, there is a reason that marketers continue to send out such worthless mailings. Every year, millions of people are tricked into believing their false claims. They end up signing up for loans with low introductory rates or buying into time shares. Only later do they learn that their low rate of 3% will balloon up to 25% or that they can only use their new time share once every other year. They find out very quickly that the offer was too good to be true and now they are paying for it.

What mistake do these millions of people make every year? They fail to read the fine print. On the back of all these offers, in the smallest print possible, are all the restrictions, exclusions and limitations. The fine print spells out in no uncertain terms what the free prizes and introductory offers are really going to cost us. Until we read the fine print, we do not know what we are getting ourselves into.

By contrast, there is no fine print in the Bible. When we read the gospels Jesus tells us right upfront what the cost of following him will be. He does not sugar coat his message or wait until the end to tell us that what he is calling us to do is difficult. He lays it right on the table. The gospel does not come in pretty wrapping tied up in a bow. None of us can say that we did not know that living our faith would be so demanding. Jesus makes the sacrifices required of us very clear. We are reminded of it every time we look upon the cross.

If Jesus has seemed more pointed, more demanding or even more severe over the past few Sundays, we must remember that we have reached the section of Luke's gospel in which Jesus has "set his face toward Jerusalem." Jerusalem and Jesus' death there cast a shadow over all his words and actions. He is well aware of what will happen at the end of this road, and he wants his disciples to be aware of it as well. Like the man building the tower or the king who set out to face his enemy, they must be aware of and prepared for the cost of following him.

Jesus understood - and we must understand - that even though his cross was something he would have to shoulder alone, even to the point of feeling abandoned by God, his disciples would themselves have to have some share in that suffering if they were to grab hold of the salvation it offered. And the first step on that journey is dropping everything else and everyone else.

Jesus' words in this weekend's gospel, “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,” are so strong that they can leave us stunned. There seems to be no practical way of applying them to our lives. Jesus cannot mean that we must turn our back on our father and mother whom we are commanded by God to honor. Even worse, it would be a scandal to abandon our spouses and children!

But, if we were to look honestly at our lives in the light of Jesus' words, there is a truth we must recognize.

Our family may not always be around. Our parents will eventually die. We had a life before knowing our spouse, and it may happen that we will eventually lose our wife or husband. And our children will eventually grow up and move away.

No matter how many people we live with and no matter how many people are around us, we are ultimately alone.

The only friendship we can never lose is the one we have with Jesus. Though it seems the least tangible of our relationships, it is the most real. Any other relationship only has meaning if it deepens our friendship with him.

Jesus is challenging us to understand the cost of following him. We were created by God to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, to take up our cross and join our suffering to his so that we may also rejoice in his victory over sin and death. That is the meaning of our lives. And everything else and everyone else has value in as much as they help us on that journey.

Once we grasp this, we do not become less attentive fathers, less loving mothers, dead beat husbands or distracted wives. When we order our relationships along the lines of Jesus' call to follow him, those relationships actually take on deeper meaning. When I see my marriage as a gift, I no longer take my spouse for granted. When I see my children as a mission, I no longer try to live vicariously through them. And instead of blaming my parents for all the dysfunction in my life, I am grateful that they did their best to give me life and to protect me.

Jesus makes it very clear to us what the cost of following him is. Each of us will live Jesus' words in a different way. But the road will lead to the same place - to the cross and to Jerusalem, the city of God and the place of our salvation.

Why do we continue to follow although the way is so difficult? Because Jesus walks with us. He promises to be with us always to help us carry our cross. And he tells us that he has already won the victory and that he is waiting to share it with us. We need only to trust him and to walk faithfully the path he has marked out for us.

What is your excuse?

behind his back, he felt alone and knew he could trust no one. However, he got a surprise when he met his cellmate, Michael. Unlike the other prisoners, he was not callous and cold. Rather, he was friendly, welcoming Russell to the cell and eager to talk with him. At first, Russell was suspicious. Why was he being so nice?

Then Michael started to share his Catholic faith with him. Of course, he was in no mood to hear about God and told his new cellmate to leave him alone. So, Michael made a bet with him. He told him that if he could pass a quiz about baptism, then he would leave him alone. Russell agreed, and Michael asked him ten questions out of the catechism. Russell answered each one correctly to his surprise. However, though he won the bet, he found himself fascinated by the challenge and decided he wanted to learn more.

And so, everyday, Russell asked Michael about what he believed as a Catholic. With time, as he learned about the faith, he decided that he too wanted to become Catholic and, after about one year of instruction, he was received into the Catholic Church by the prison chaplain in 1989.

Immediately, Michael’s life changed. He began to look at his prison sentence as an opportunity to reach other prisoners with the message of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ. Along with another prisoner, he founded First Century Christian Ministries with the intent of spreading the Catholic faith to his brother inmates, making sure they were able to attend Mass and receive the sacraments, and providing bibles, catechisms and rosaries to them. In a short period of time with the help of the bishop and some benefactors, they were able to bring their ministry to other prisons and have enjoyed continued success throughout the past twenty years.

Russell Ford’s story teaches us in a powerful way that there is no one who is outside of God’s mercy. No one is such a great sinner that Jesus cannot touch his heart and use him to spread the good news. Also, no one is in such an impossible situation that he or she cannot work for the spread of the gospel. It is difficult to think of worse conditions than those found inside a prison to do God’s work. But Russell Ford teaches us that, with God, all things are possible.

What is our excuse for keeping our faith to ourselves and not sharing it with others? What is keeping us from heeding the call of the master and going into the vineyard as Jesus calls us to?

Do we think we are not worthy, that we are sinners and hypocrites? That is certainly true. But are we worse than Russell Ford who was serving a twenty-five year prison sentence? Are we worse than Saint Paul who persecuted Christians or Saint Peter who denied our Lord? If God can use them, then He can certainly use us. Like them, all we need to do is trust in Him, put our weakness and sinfulness into His hands and step out with courage to live the truth of the gospel. Then the opportunities to witness to His love to others will come.

What other excuse might we have? Do we think that we do not know enough about our faith to share it with others? Again, Russell Ford is a good example for us. He knew very little about the Catholic faith when he first began his ministry to prisoners. However, he realized that what his fellow inmates were most hungry for was not information but love. They had questions about the Catholic Church, but what they were yearning for was a sense that they were cared for by God. That is why Jesus tells His disciples in the gospel not to take anything with them on their journey. They were simply to share with everyone they met the love of God. The same is true for us. We certainly should study our faith and be able to answer those who challenge us. But, at the same time, our primary job is to introduce others to Jesus. Once people realize that they are loved by God, then they become hungry to learn more.

Finally, besides thinking that we are unworthy or that we do not know enough, we might be afraid of being rejected or ridiculed by others for sharing our faith. In fact, Jesus tells us that persecution is a real possibility when he says in the gospel, “I am sending you like lambs among wolves.” Many of our brothers and sisters are not only indifferent to the teaching of Jesus but hostile to it. We cannot always change their minds or hearts. But if we live our faith and share it in a loving way, Jesus can have a chance to break through to them. We must remember that the work of converting our brothers and sisters is not just up to us. It is primarily the work of the Holy Spirit through us. Though we may not be seeing any results, we must trust that God, the master of the harvest, is using us to make a difference.

God is calling each of us out to His vineyard. Through our baptism and the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, He has equipped us to do His work. Each of us will perform it in a different way according to our situation in life and our talents. But we are all sent out without exception. If we accept the challenge with trust and courage we will witness great things.

(image by Marisol Sousa)

Friends with Jesus

There was a boy named Billy who had trouble fitting in with the other children at his school. Because he was constantly called names and being picked on, he learned to spend much of his time alone. One day, Billy was riding his bike in the park when he noticed one of his classmates sitting on a bench crying. He asked the boy what was wrong, and he told Billy how some older kids had ganged up on him and roughed him up. It left him feeling shaken and hurt. Billy told the boy that he knew how much it hurt to be picked on. And so, the two boys spent the rest of the afternoon in the park playing together. Billy was happy that he finally had a friend.

The next day at school, Billy was excited to see his new friend again. However, when he ran up to him in the bus line, the boy started to make fun of him along with his other classmates. Billy became upset and ran away crying. The boy ran after him and asked Billy, "Why are you crying? You never cried when I made fun of you before." Billy, wiping his face and holding back his sobs replied, "Yeah, but you were never my friend before!"

Each of us had a moment in our lives when Jesus went from being an historical figure or a character in a book to being a living person who knows us and loves us. At that moment, Jesus became our friend. And, like the boys in the story, being friends with Jesus meant we had to change. We could not go on living the way we had before.

Today's gospel reading from Saint Mark gives us the first words that Jesus ever preached: "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel." These three sentences give us in a nutshell what the life and ministry of Jesus is all about. First of all, Jesus is the fulfillment of all the promises of the Old Testament. Secondly, Jesus ushers in the kingdom of God which is God's victory over sin and death. And, finally, if we are going to be a part of this marvelous work of the Father in our midst, we must repent. We must change.

The first examples of the change required to follow Jesus comes in this same gospel reading when Jesus approaches Peter, Andrew, James and John as they are working on their nets along the banks of the Sea of Galilee. He challenges them to be his disciples: "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." The four men are faced with a decision. It is clear to them that they cannot become friends and followers of Jesus and continue to live the way they had up to that point. They could either be disciples of Jesus or continue to be fishermen; but they could not be both. Following Jesus required a change. And so, they dropped everything to follow him.

In the first reading from the Old Testament, we find a similar situation. The prophet Jonah is sent by God to the pagan city of Nineveh. Their wickedness had set them on a path to certain destruction. Yet God wanted to show mercy to them. Jonah makes it clear that if they do not repent of their evil ways, they will soon meet catastrophe. The people take Jonah's words to heart and change their behavior. God could then begin to show mercy to them.

Following Jesus and believing in him changes us. When we realize that God created each of us in his image and likeness, then we begin to treat all people with love and respect. When we realize the depth of God's love for each person, we can no longer turn our backs on people when they need us. When we realize how much we have been forgiven by a merciful God, we begin to forgive those who hurt us no matter how great the offense. Friendship with Jesus transforms us from selfish, narrow-minded individuals into people who love truly from our hearts after the example of our Savior.

There is one thing that our friendship with Jesus cannot do, however. It cannot keep us from being sinners. No matter how close we grow to Jesus we will always be tempted to turn our backs on him in one way or another. No matter how long we may have followed him, we will always fall back into sin. But Jesus our friend is forgiving. He will always take us back no matter how we have offended him if we show him that we are sorry and are committed to changing. Though we can and do abandon him, he will never abandon us. Jesus is the most faithful of friends.

Jesus is always there for us to turn to in our time of need. When the bad choices we have made in our lives start catching up to us, Jesus is there to listen and to guide us back on the right path. If any of us wishes to know what life is like with Jesus as a friend, it is as simple as asking him to come into our hearts and our lives. Going to the sacrament of confession and laying out before God all the ways we have chosen the wrong path is an important place to start. Then the regret can give way to peace, the fear can give way to joy, and the hostility can give way to love. And we can say with so many others before us - What a friend we have in Jesus!

You Can Leave Your Coat On

I have never seen a coat check at a Catholic Church. Nor have I ever been to a church where people take off their coats for Mass. I don't think this is incidental. Rather, I think it says alot about how we as Catholics understand what it is that we are doing when we celebrate the Eucharist. It is not primarily a social event. We are not there to relax and "stay awhile." Rather we are meant to witness something great that God intends to do in our midst , and then we are to go straight out to proclaim it to others. We are not meant to linger as the apostles did when Jesus ascended to heaven and the angel had to snap them out of their trance and remind them to get back to Jerusalem to wait for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Nor are we meant to set up tents as Peter wanted to do at Jesus' transfiguration because "it is good for us to be here." Rather we are to heed the instructions God gave Moses regarding the celebration of the passover: "You are to eat with your staff in your hand and your bags packed like men about to make a journey." The Mass is a stop along the way. It is like pulling into a roadside service center where we grab something to eat, use the restroom, fill up the car and head back out onto the highway.

Interestingly enough, the word "Mass" is taken from the Latin ending of the liturgy "Ita missa est" which we translate in English as "The Mass has ended, go in peace." The deacon or priest in essence says, "The Mass has ended, go!" "Missa" is related to the word "mission". We are sent forth from Mass to proclaim the Good News to everyone we meet. So we keep our coats on because we'll be back out on the road soon to love and serve the Lord!