St. Martin de Porres, religious


Scripture from today's Liturgy of the Word:

Romans 13:8-10
Psalm 112:1-2,4-5,9
Luke 14:25-33


A reflection on today's Scripture:

Jesus teaches us in this gospel reading from Luke that to follow Him we must give up everything. We must give up all that interferes with God's will, His plans for our lives, and all that keeps us from Him.

This is actually a very "deep" teaching, and one which we can ponder at great length. A couple things to think about: First, we should pray each day to know God's will for our lives. It amazes me how some people might pray to be healed from a common cold, yet will not pray to choose a spouse or change careers.

Second, we must also look at what keeps us from a perfect union with God. What sins do we habitually commit? What attitudes cause us to hurt others? What do we need to change in our lives to become like Jesus?

By constantly evaluating how we compare with Jesus' life as told to us in the gospels, and fine tuning our actions and attitudes, we will see improvement and find that we are following the path to Jesus much more closely, which will lead us to eternal salvation.

- Steve Shawl