But there is a cost…The question is….Are we willing to pay it?

Today at Holy Mass we hear from St John in the first reading from the Book of Revelation….…John is telling the followers of Christ that in order to “continue on the road” one must endure many trials….”You have endurance and have suffered for my name, and you have not grown weary”…..How easy it is to say we believe in God when all things are going well…..What about when the “world turns against you”?…When you can not do what you want?……This is what St John is addressing…..To follow Christ means we are to be “in the world and not of the world”….That is very easy to say but the reality is, at times to live that out, it can be very challenging…This is why we need grace…To attempt this “path” without relying upon daily prayer, weekly fasting and the Sacraments if you ask me is futile - Not going to happen!….”The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak”…..There is no such thing as “cheap grace”….And there are no short cuts.....”A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them. This is because he works for pay and has no concern for the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know mine and mine know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I will lay down my life for the sheep.”

“Blessed the man who follows not the counsel of the wicked Nor walks in the way of sinners, nor sits in the company of the insolent, But delights in the law of the LORD and meditates on his law day and night.”

For those of us who have “been around the block” for some time, we know that “doing the right thing” is challenging to say the least.....Our world rewards the “quick buck”…..To do things God’s way is never easy…But when we choose to do things God’s way, we have peace and joy…However, that does not take away from the “cost of discipleship”…And make no mistake, there is a cost…This is where the “rubber meets to road” and where people “fall away”….Human beings want to have their “cake and eat it too” when it comes to following Jesus and his Church, however it does not work that way!……The road to heaven is “different” from the road taken by the “worldly”….Catholics are to serve as “salt and light” in this world…We are to walk among the world but not be like the worldly........Fr Lawerence Abello was a Jesuit in India…His life impacted many, including me…Fr Abello took a vow when he became a Jesuit….Poverty, Chastity and Obedience…And Fr Abello took those vows very seriously…..The man was brilliant but if you saw him, you may have mistaken him for a poor simple-minded man…His shirts were always worn out and his sandals were beat up…He walked everywhere he went…..When I would go to India, many of the volunteers from around the world would laugh at Fr Abello…They thought him to be “strange”….I on the other hand thought otherwise…..Fr Abello was a holy man…Why do I bring this up?…..The path of discipleship can stare us right in the face and we can miss it…Why?…Because we “look” at it with worldly eyes….Fr Abello was not like other people and because he was not, people thought he was “weird”…Think about how people looked at Jesus…Here you have this guy with no place to call home, going from town to town with “12 rough looking guys” speaking Truth to power…I bet the people of his day thought Jesus to be “weird” too….Why bring this up?…There is a cost to discipleship…And if we want to follow Christ and embrace the will of God…We must be willing to “pay that cost”

“I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.”

Catholic tradition refers to Jesus as the suffering servant…..If that is true do we somehow think we as his followers will not suffer?….As American Catholics we have been conditioned to have a “comfortable life”….And there is nothing wrong with some creature comforts…However, we were not made to be “comfortable”, we were made for greatness!….And that requires sacrifice - Period Full Stop!……The question we have to reconcile with ourself is this - Are we trying to establish our “kingdom” here on earth?…....or….Is our Kingdom in heaven?…It all boils down to that…And frankly you don’t have to answer with words…Our life’s choices communicates the answer loud and clear for everyone with eyes in their head see - That not only includes we Lay Catholics in the pews but Priests, Bishops & Cardinals as well.....For those who have ears - Let them hear!…..Why was Jesus so effective as a communicator?…Because he practiced what he preached! - He lived the words he spoke!…This is what we as Catholics must do as well…But to do this, we must accept to cost of discipleship and that requires grace…..When we do, our words will be heard and if we do not, our words will be ignored - Period Full Stop!…..The Boston College Philosophy professor, the great Peter Kreeft put it this way…..”You can praise Jesus, disagree with him, quote him, disbelieve him, glorify him, or vilify him. About the only thing you cannot do is ignore him, and that is a lesson that every age learns in its own way. You can't ignore Jesus, because he changed things”….And so will we…But there is a cost…The question is….Are we willing to pay it?