The Cost of Discipleship In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us about the conditions of discipleship, and these words from the Gospel must be understood in the context of all the other teachings of Christ. It is true that “hate” is a strong word, and the way that we commonly understand “hate” as the opposite of “love” cannot be taken as what was meant by Christ, because He is the one who told us to “love our neighbor as ourselves.” On…
The Parable of the Invited Guests In the Gospel of Luke, one of the leading Pharisees invited Jesus to dine in his home. The people there were observing Jesus carefully, but Jesus was observing them too! After Jesus saw how the guests were choosing places of honor at the banquet table, He said: “Do not recline at table in the place of honor. A more distinguished guest than you may have been invited by him, and the host who invited…
Are you saved? By telling the people to strive to enter through the narrow gate, Jesus makes it clear that the path to salvation is not easy. The way to God requires our undivided attention because it consists of an ongoing conversion of heart. The grace of God is always present, but we must do our part to receive it. Many people seem to think that salvation is practically a given. It is not uncommon to find people who will…
Division within families In Luke’s Gospel, we hear Jesus say things that seem very uncharacteristic of Him; He said: “I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Lk12:49, 51) How can the Prince of Peace, who is supposed to bring people together, claim to bring division such that some members of…
The faithful and prudent steward In the Gospel of Luke (12:32-34), Jesus tells His disciples not to seek security in the things of this world, but in the treasures of heaven. Hence, Jesus exhorts them to be steadfast in faith, and He tells them a parable to illustrate what He means: A servant was entrusted with his master’s household, but he began to eat, drink and get drunk, and he beat the other servants. When the master returns unexpectedly, he…
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! The bible has wise things to say about money and possessions. While affirming that we live in a world that involves business dealings and money, it teaches us three important things: that we shouldn’t regard material wealth and possessions as gods, that life is fragile and ultimately in God’s hands and that we need to sort out what is really important and lasting before it is too late. In the Gospel of Luke,…
Teach us to pray If we were to look at the world around us, we simply cannot deny that the whole of reality is not only composed of the physical, but also the spiritual. As human beings, we too are made up of the physical and the spiritual – we each have a body and a soul. In order to live in the physical world, we must take in what our bodies need: to breathe the air, eat food, drink…
The Joy of Work Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.” Many of us can relate to Martha’s predicament, because we admit that, like her, we too have been anxious and worried about many things. In today’s world, the Martha of today’s Gospel can be male or female, young or old, rich or poor, employed or retired, of any race or nationality. We have too much to do but too little time to do it.…
Being a Good Neighbor In the Gospel of Luke, the scholar of the law knew what the greatest commandment is: To love God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this and you will live.” But wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?” What he meant was “Who deserves…
The Holy Martyr Saints of China Today we celebrate the feast day of the Holy Martyr Saints of China. 19 years ago, on October 1st, 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized 120 martyrs of China. Of the 120 saints, 87 are Chinese and 33 are foreign missionaries. Among them are 6 bishops, 23 priests, 8 monks (one of whom was a novice), 7 nuns and 76 lay people (two of whom were catechumens). According to historical records, the Catholic faith…