Following Jesus

In today's Gospel (Lk 14, 25-33), Jesus renews his invitation for us to follow him.

v25...large crowds of people were going along with Jesus...

Jesus was moving towards Jerusalem. This is significant, since Jerusalem stood for the culmination of the ministry of Jesus, where he is to be tried and condemned unjustly, tortured and killed brutally. We see here the resoluteness of Jesus to fulfill his mission - no matter what it takes. And many went with him, but not all were followers, not all were disciples.

There could have been 4 kinds of people who went along with Jesus - (1) those who wanted to see a miracle performed, without understanding who Jesus is, and why he was doing all these things; (2) those who waited for him to commit a mistake, so that they could hold him in this; (3) those who thought that he was going to Jerusalem to fight against the Romans, to reconquer Israel and liberate them from these foreign colonizers; (4) a little who were trying to understand who he really was, and what his mission is about.

The first were mere drifters and spectators; the second schemers; and the third, misguided activists. The first three were the anonymous crowd - they just went with Jesus; the fourth, are those struggling to understand who Jesus was and what his mission was all about. They are those whom the Gospel would refer as disciples, true followers of Jesus.

Jesus taught 3 challenges of truly following him:

v26"Those who come to me cannot be my disciples unless they love me more than they love father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and themselves as well.

1) Jesus invites us to follow him in our relationships. He did not teach hatred, but love, the way he loved. In loving, Jesus loved passionately, and he loved everybody. Yes, Jesus had special preference for his mother, his friends and his disciples. But these relationships did not deter him from loving others too - in fact, it was what sustained him in his service for others, especially the poor and the needy.

v27Those who do not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciples.

2) Jesus invites us to follow him at all times, even, and especially in the most difficult times - to love even when it is most difficult to do so. He invites us to take up our own struggles, and carry these with him. He does not promise to take our crosses, but he assures that he is with us.

v33..."none of you can be my disciple unless you give up everything you have."

3) Jesus finally invites us to follow him in trust - let go, and let God. The metaphor of Fr. Orbos is fitting: Jesus, calling us to follow him, calls us to hold on to him. But real holding on is not we grasping the hand of God, in which case, we open the possibility of us letting go of God. Real holding on to God is letting God hold us, and asking him never to let us go. It is letting go of everything in our hands, of all our attachments, and letting God hold us and lead us where he wishes to bring us.

There is infinite joy and peace in following Jesus. And this joy and peace Jesus wants to give us. We are however to love as Jesus loved, to love even in the most difficult times, and to let go and let God hold us, and lead us to this joy and peace. Open your heart to him today.

Have a blessed Sunday.
.