”Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” - Do you really believe that?….What world do you live in?….A good question indeed!

Today at Holy Mass we hear from the Gospel of St Luke….We are told Jesus heals a leper and the news about what he did began to spread amongst the people…..”The report about him spread all the more, and great crowds assembled to listen to him and to be cured of their ailments, but he would withdraw to deserted places to pray”….The reaction of Jesus to the crowd is interesting and I would like to focus upon it…Instead of embracing the crowd, as many people do today who are being acclaimed for one thing or another, Jesus goes in the opposite direction from the crowd and prays…..Why did he do that?…..The people of Israel at the time were under Roman occupation, they were looking for a King….But not the kind of King Jesus was, they were look for an earthly King and Jesus knew this…That is why he withdrew himself from the crowd…So the questions for today to consider are…What kind of ‘king” are you looking for?…Who is Jesus to you?…..One of the driving reasons why Jesus’s own people rejected him was because he was not the King they were looking for, he was the suffering servant who repeated time and time again…”My Kingdom is not of this world”….Is our Kingdom of this world? - Our life’s choices provide the answer to that question, no need to respond verbally…..The Kingdom of Jesus Christ is not a material Kingdom but make no mistake about it…”The Kingdom of God is at hand”…..The question then for us to answer is…Are we interested in that Kingdom or are we trying to create a kingdom of our own making here on earth?

“Jesus proclaimed the Gospel of the Kingdom and cured every disease among the people”

American children are taught that “you can have it all”…That really is not true….We all make choices in life and if we choose to follow Christ we have to “leave certain things on the table”…That is just reality and to think other wise is simply a self-rationalization…..”Then Peter said to him in reply, We have given up everything and followed you. What will there be for us? Jesus said to them, Amen, I say to you that you who have followed me, in the new age, when the Son of Man is seated on his throne of glory, will yourselves sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” - Do you believe him?…….It comes down to a choice - But make no mistake - We all make this choice and “no choice” is in fact a choice made…….When I was in India I got to know this one nun from England. Her name was Sister Michael…….Sister Michael was a medical doctor who became a nun and left England to live amongst the poor of Kolkata…..Think about that choice for a moment…Do you know the kind of life Sister Michael could have had if she choose to live in England and practice medicine?….People would kill for the life she willing gave up….And that is exactly what she did…She put that “good life” down and choose a different path…..Sister Michael was a very capable and intelligent person…People like that (and we all know people like that) do not “throw their life away” based upon a whim……Now think about what Jesus Christ did…He was God and chose to walk amongst us…Not only that, he came to us in the form a working man, born to a poor family…..Wrap your arms around that choice!….Only love can make someone do that for others…Just like Sister Michael, who could have had a very comfortable life practicing medicine in England but love drove her to choose something else…….”Everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or lands for the sake of my name will receive a hundred times more, and will inherit eternal life.” - Do you believe that?…..Far too many of us think we can have it both ways - Does not work that way!…..Jesus Christ laid down his life for the world….Sister Michael from India “put down” a lucrative life in England to serve the poor….So what is expected of us?….Well, we too must make a choice….Jesus tells us this very clearly in Scripture….“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?”…These are not my words, so don’t shoot the messenger!…..There is a “cost” to be paid to follow Christ - Are we willing to pay it?

“I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God”

Today in the Gospel from Mass the people of Jesus’s day see a miracle and want to make Jesus an “earthly King”…Jesus wanted no part of that….What about us today?…Are we looking for a “political messiah”?…..Are we attempting to “build a kingdom here on earth? - And if so, is it a “kingdom” of our own making?…….Many scholars have commented on the sin of Judas Iscariot, the apostle who betrayed Christ…I am not a scholar but I will give you my New Jersey “two cents” on the matter…Judas loved Jesus…Scripture tells us….”Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss”….....The reason why Judas betrayed him was because he lost faith in the means by which Jesus would save the world - As a Suffering Servant…Judas wanted no part of that, he did not think that method could or would work, so be betrayed him…Judas was looking for a “king” of his own making…How about us?…..In many cases God’s ways are not our ways - I get it - But we must strive to make God’s ways our ways!…..To do this requires an act of the human will and grace……..Did it make sense that a king would willing permit himself to be torn to shreds and be killed on a cross? - How can such a man be a king?…..Do the Beatitudes of Christ make sense in a “dog eat dog” world?…..”Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth...... “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” - Get real - What world do you live in?…If you ask that question, believe it or not, you are on the right track…………..”Then he said to his disciples, The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, there he is,’ [or] ‘Look, here he is.’ Do not go off, do not run in pursuit. For just as lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be [in his day]. But first he must suffer greatly and be rejected by this generation. As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be in the days of the Son of Man; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage up to the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Similarly, as it was in the days of Lot: they were eating, drinking, buying, selling, planting, building; on the day when Lot left Sodom, fire and brimstone rained from the sky to destroy them all. So it will be on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day, a person who is on the housetop and whose belongings are in the house must not go down to get them, and likewise a person in the field must not return to what was left behind. Remember the wife of Lot. Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses it will save it.”………Judas Iscariot was looking for a “king” of his own making - How about us?…….…”Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.” - Do you really believe that?….What world do you live in?….A good question indeed!