A reading from the holy Gospel according to Luke 9:57-62

As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." He said to another man, "Follow me." But he replied, "LORD, first let me go and bury my father." Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God." Still another said, "I will follow you, LORD; but first let me go back and say goodbye to my family." Jesus replied, "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

REFLECTION: "No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."

Jesus is approached by three people who want to be his followers. His answer to their requests is quite honest.

Are we ready to go anywhere the Lord sends us? At times knowing it is God calling us or not is quite difficult to discern. When we get the call to do something for God and we find resistance on our part or doubts, we need to stop all and pray and be silent. Sometimes, circumstances will push us to what God wants and sometimes, in the silence of our prayers, God gives us the grace to respond and the strength to follow all the way to the end.

Working for God, will assuredly cause us to sacrifice . Are we ready to give up all our desires and our belongings for God? It is necessary to fully abandon ourselves to follow God. We may never be asked to give up the comfort of our home and bed, but we must be willing to give up all that stands in the way of doing the will of God. There is a cost to following God and Jesus is very frank with us. He tells us what the cost will be and what we need to give up. Are we willing to pay the price? Are we willing not to look back at our possessions and not regret our decisions to follow God? Are we willing not to look back at our sinful habits and not regret our decision to follow God? For every time, while plowing , we look back and not forward, we will not see that the furrows or rows that we have plowed are crooked and one crooked line after another causes a mess.

Remember, whatever God wills in your life and you choose to follow that path, you will find His grace to be sufficient and His love strong. Remember, that God meets you where you are and will help you face your fears and concerns.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, the scribe said to you, "I will follow you wherever you go." He was not able. Help me to live in Christian poverty. Give me the desire to not want more and more of this world but to know, as St Paul, to live in " plenty and hunger, in abundance and want" as " I can do all things in you whom I trust." Amen

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