Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time (2)

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Mt 8:18-22

Every day in our lives, we have to make decisions about almost everything. For example, clothes, food, choosing friends, a job, where to go, etc. Choosing also means giving up. If we choose this one, we will have to give up another one. In today God’s Gospel, Jesus’ answers show that choosing to follow Jesus is a drastic or strong decision. His disciple must give up almost everything to follow him with his whole heart and mind in the way of following Jesus.

But there is something not easy to understand about Jesus’ saying, “Let the dead bury their dead.” Jesus was not commanding sons and daughters to think lightly of the honor due to parents but rather signifying that nothing ought to be more urgent to us than the affairs of the kingdom of heaven. Do not let anything take first place over service to the coming reign of heaven. In other words, let the spiritually dead—those who are not willing to follow Christ—take care of themselves at home. Jesus wants his followers to choose the most crucial way to serve in God’s kingdom. This is not just a calling, it is the highest calling, one that should inspire and motivate us in our daily lives.

But what does it mean when Jesus said, “Follow me?” it means giving up what does not belong to Christ and his kingdom. When I decided to become a priest, I thought the hardest things to give up is what I have, like money, and things. However, after a few years, I realize that no it was not too hard to give up those things. And do you know what the hardest thing is to give up. Myself, the most difficult thing is to give up myself, giving up my earthly desire, my will and my worldly heart to follow the will of God and what God wants me to do. However, the good things is that the more I give up myself, the more I can feel filling what belong to God in me. The more I die for myself, the more the life of God growing in me. The more I choose to give up my things, the more I choose what what belong to God. In other words, Following Christ means like St. Luke Mark, and Matthew said the same thing “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me”. Matt 16:

I know it is hard to choose to follow Christ, but it is the best decision we can make. And We must choose Christ because if we do not choose to follow Christ, we choose nothing; if we choose Christ, we choose everything.