“The choice we face is not, as many imagine, between heaven and hell. Rather, the choice is between heaven and this world. Even a fool would exchange hell for heaven; but only the wise will exchange this world for heaven.”

I know the power obedience has of making things easy which seem impossible. – St. Teresa of Avila: (1515 – 1582: was a Spanish noblewoman who chose a monastic life in the Roman Catholic church)

Gospel Text: (MT 8:18-22)

When Jesus saw a crowd around him,
he gave orders to cross to the other shore.
A scribe approached and said to him,
“Teacher, 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.”
Another of his disciples said to him,
“Lord, let me go first and bury my father.”
But Jesus answered him, “Follow me,
and let the dead bury their dead.”

In other words, Jesus wants to illustrate to the scribe that the choice to follow Him is a commitment to travel down a road that is risky only in the sense that following Jesus requires complete trust in Him.  We will not be told, ahead of time, where our Lord will lead and what He will ask of us.  Rather, when we unreservedly choose to follow Jesus, we are putting our trust in Him as a person and are telling Him that we embrace His will no matter what it is.  This level of trust is the key to what Jesus wants.