LORD, FILL US WITH YOUR LOVE

XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Lk 14:25-33

Whenever we hear in the news about the suffering inflicted on Christians in many parts of the world, we may think that maybe it is a dream, because in our days when everybody claims their rights such things are unthinkable. We got used to being Christian and we feel at ease as if we had just put on something that fits us well. However, Jesus’ words in this Sunday’s gospel make us feel uncomfortable. Jesus puts demands on those who choose to be his disciples which may be considered radical and extreme. Jesus must take precedence over everybody else, be it father or mother, husband, wife or children. He takes precedence over our own life, so that, for the sake of faithfulness to him, we must be ready to lose our life. Before him, everything else is worthless. 

To be a Christian has serious implications and Jesus points out some of them: a) Jesus must take always the first place in our priorities; b) We must carry our cross; c) We must be ready to give up all our possessions.

We can only accept Jesus’ demands when we realise that only with him our life will be worth living and when our faith in him is strengthened by hope, a hope anchored on his victory over death. Once we go through his way, having him as our fellow traveller, then we will pass with him from death to life.

The responsorial psalm reminds us of the shortness of our life and of our mortality. And we pray to the Lord: “Make us know the shortness of our life that we may gain wisdom of heart”; that is, that we may put all our trust in the Lord and that we may experience his love:

“In the morning, fill us with your love;

  we shall exult and rejoice all our days.” (Psalm 90:14)