Many were excited about Jesus’ message. Many were enthralled by His wisdom. Many were awed by His miracles. But these are all emotions —good enough to get their attention but not good enough to translate to action. Good enough to gain fans, but never enough to make disciples.

Emotion is not bad. But the surest way to mess up your life is to base your actions on pure emotionalism. True happiness requires commitment. Commitment is always costly. That’s why Jesus wants us to count the cost. Commitment is always tested. You can never say you’re faithful until you’re tempted to be unfaithful, and you still choose to be faithful. 

But commitment is rewarding.  Always. Total commitment to training makes a champion athlete. Total commitment to customers makes a successful businessman. Total commitment to your spouse makes a happy marriage. Pope John Paul II once said, “A person who does not decide to love forever will find it difficult to really love for even one day.”

Jon Escoto (jonmaris@yahoo.com)

reflect

Are you aching for “next level” success, happiness, or intimacy? Count the cost. Then commit. That just might be the missing key.

Jesus, give me the joy that comes from total commitment to the Father’s will. Amen. 

Saint Regina, pray for us.

First Reading | Wisdom 9:13-18

The arrogant man claims to comprehend the mind and will of God. But those who are sensible and humble do their best to be obedient to God’s will, to understand what He asks of us and put that understanding into practice. The Book of Wisdom reminds us that humility is the key to finding God’s will. We may never fully understand the ways of God, but let us humbly seek His will for us.

¹³ Who can know God’s counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends? ¹⁴ For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. ¹⁵ For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. ¹⁶ And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? ¹⁷ Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? ¹⁸ And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

Responsorial Psalm | Psalm 90:3-4, 5-6, 12-13, 14, 17

R: In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.

³ You turn man back to dust, saying, “Return, O children of men.” ⁴ For a thousand years in your sight are as yesterday, now that it is past, or as a watch of the night. (R) ⁵ You make an end of them in their sleep; the next morning they are like the changing grass, 6 which at dawn springs up anew, but by evening wilts and fades. (R) ¹² Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain wisdom of heart. ¹³ Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! (R) ¹⁴ Fill us at daybreak with your kindness, that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days. ¹⁷ And may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us! Prosper the work of our hands! (R)

Second Reading | Philemon 9-10, 12-17

The Christian Church may have taken it too far to abolish slavery. But perhaps a bigger scandal is the kind of slavery that exists today. One type of slavery occurs when people are subjected to forced labor or not properly remunerated for their work. Another is when people are trafficked by others or given false impressions concerning the work they are signing up for, particularly when in a foreign land. 

⁹ I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, ¹⁰ urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment; ¹² I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. ¹³ I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, ¹⁴ but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. ¹⁵ Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, ¹⁶ no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. ¹⁷ So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.

Gospel | Luke 14:25-33 

To be a disciple of Jesus involves paying the price of allegiance. Jesus reminds us of the truth that to commit ourselves to a task or particular goal in the Kingdom of God involves prioritizing the Gospel and its proclamation. Family is important, but at the same point in our lives, we separate ourselves (to greater and lesser degrees according to individual situations) from our immediate families. We do this as we make our way in the world and live meaningful lives through the choices we make.

Gospel Acclamation

Let your face shine upon your servant; and teach me your laws.

²⁵ Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, ²⁶ “If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. ²⁷ Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ²⁸ Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? ²⁹ Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him ³⁰ and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ ³¹ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? ³² But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. ³³ In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Reflect:

What or who are you willing to give up to show your allegiance to Jesus?

Read the Bible in one year! Read JEREMIAH 23 - 26 today.

Conviction and Commitment in Jesus

In the Gospel today, Jesus was approaching Jerusalem and great crowds were following Him. He knew that many of those following Him were simply curious while others were still searching for more proof that He was indeed the Christ. Then He turned to face the crowd to issue two important lessons on discipleship: “hating” one’s family and carrying his own cross. (See Luke 14:2527).

Jesus is not asking us to literally hate our family and friends, or even our very selves. The word “hate” in this passage refers more to action than emotion, of doing something that others would surely hate, like when we do not give in to the ways of the world, and the only explanation and reason why we do it is Jesus Christ. For example, when we choose to suffer in silence or forgo vengeance, let go of some debts, forget all about legalities simply because we love Jesus. The moment we are hated by others, or even by our very selves, for being good and kind like Jesus is also the moment when we carry His cross.

Hence, discipleship in Christ is preferring nothing to Him. There is no room for mediocrity in being Christ’s disciple. This is why Jesus warned the people then and now that “anyone of you who does not renounce his possession cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33). We have seen how superficial discipleship and mediocre Christianity have caused more damages to the Church and our personal lives because of lack of conviction and commitment to the calling. The crisis in the Church is primarily a crisis of our commitment as priests; the crisis in the society is often rooted to crisis in the family, the basic unit of the society. 

Fr. Nick Lalog

reflection question

Examine the problems you are facing today. Most likely, it is rooted in your lack of love and fidelity in Christ through others.

God our Father, teach me Your counsel. Enlighten me with Your Holy Spirit so that I may not simply know what is good, but most of all, a holy life by experiencing Christ daily as His disciple. Amen.

Today, I pray for: ________________________________________