- Lectio Divina – 107 | Sr. Sharon CMC
READING : Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters yes, even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish’ or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples.
REFLECTION: If we choose to follow Jesus then we need to walk through the path of the cross to reach him or else we may lose our goal. He doesn’t offer a smooth path, but path with thorns and stones. At times, while treading the path we may stumble, but the assurance of his promises act like oasis in the desert to go forward. To follow Jesus is to rely on him as a rock to stand on and shoulder the burdens of the world. The true discipleship is a call to become the healers of the World like our Master, who bore the sins of the World in his body on the Cross, thus we were healed by his wounds.
Do we curse God, for the misfortunes and misunderstandings that comes to our life without any invitation? One thing is sure, for the person who is not mindful, life turns out to be full of uncertainties and burdensome. But for the true follower of Christ nothing is uncertain, because the life of a disciple is not his or her own but it is committed to the Lord. So, he /she is set out to discover and uncover the plan of God for them and for the World, and their path is, the path of their Master. There is No misfortune that can’t be turned into a blessing and there is no such misunderstanding that would lack clarity for our Master. A True discipleship is not an easy task, it is highly demanding, the Cost of discipleship is not just losing but it is gaining, gaining the whole World for the Lord.
PRAYER: Lord my master, we have said yes to your call hoping that you will lead us to right path. Our call requires readiness to take risk. Lord You are the way and the light, confirm us Lord in our call by your grace that we may not turn astray from our real goal. And take part in your saving mission by our radical discipleship.
CONTEMPLATION : Let us reflect upon the path, we have chosen. It is not easy yet it is not impossible, with firm confidence in our master we can walk his path of Cross. No matter what will knock at our door at each dawn, for we have a strong rock to stand upon. At the end of each tunnel there is light, let us trust Him who walks with us through the dark tunnel of our life.
ACTION: We shall do all our duties and fulfil our responsibilities as the disciple of Christ with strong sense of commitment to the Lord.
