PONDER THIS

INTRODUCTION
Does your mind wander during church on Sunday? Do you ever find your Sunday Mass or Service hard to follow? Do you sometimes wonder what you are getting out of church? Perhaps you have asked these questions to yourself and answered “yes.” If so, you’ve shown an interest in better understanding your faith! I believe that a lot of men (and women, and kids) disengage during church, and just “go through the motions.” But, I also believe that once you are engaged in the Mass or the Service, you will find a greater connection to God and a greater depth of information to build your faith. So how do you start to get more engaged on Sunday? Take a few minutes on Thursday or Friday and prepare for it.

Year C (Gospel of Luke)
Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

LK 9:51-62
When the days for Jesus' being taken up were fulfilled,
he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem,
and he sent messengers ahead of him.
On the way they entered a Samaritan village
to prepare for his reception there,
but they would not welcome him
because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem.
When the disciples James and John saw this they asked,
"Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven
to consume them?"
Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.

As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him,
"I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him,
"Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests,
but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."

And to another he said, "Follow me."
But he replied, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead.
But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord,
but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
To him Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow
and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God."

Question to Ponder… This seems kind of hard, doesn’t it? You can’t say goodbye to your family, you can’t bury your dad, you won’t have a place to rest your head. As Luke writes in this passage, Jesus was “resolutely determined in his journey.” Are you “resolutely determined” to plow straight ahead with Christ, despite the no-excuses hard work that it takes?