Sunday, September 4
Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
“In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.”
Reflection
One of the things that I struggle with all the time is getting enough exercise. We all know the story. If we get regular exercise we don’t have to worry about high blood pressure, heart disease and all of the other things that can cause problems and shorten our life span. I have been known to skip a workout from time to time. My commitment to exercise could be more solid. It is the same thing with our relationship to Jesus. If we are not committed to following him, our lives and relationships will suffer.
Jesus tells us in the Gospel this weekend that we need to be fully committed to following him or we will not make it to heaven. He even goes to the point of saying that we need to hate our families: our mothers and fathers, brothers and sisters among them. Jesus even tells us that we ought to hate our own life to be his disciple. Is he serious? The answer is yes. Jesus wants our relationship with him to be the central theme of our lives, and the thing from which all of our other relationships are channeled through.
If we think of the depth that our relationships can have with Jesus at the center of our lives, we can recognize that they become something sacred—commitments to each other that are solid and never changing. If we try to relate to each other without that commitment to Jesus, then our experiences can be transitory, just like my attempts to get some exercise in. When it is time to do something difficult to honor our relationship with someone, we might say: “Not today, maybe tomorrow.” But if Jesus is at the center of all of our relationships with each other, then we will be much more committed. Let us honor each other through our honoring of Jesus.
Peace,
Deacon Dare
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