MONDAY OF THE 15TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
(MEMORIAL OF ST. BENEDICT, ABBOT)
1ST READING: Isaiah 1:10-17
PSALM: Psalm 50:8-9, 16-17, 21, 23
GOSPEL: Matthew 10:34 – 11:1
THEME: THE PRICE
Her decision to become a Christian was met with stiff opposition from her family. She had practiced the religion of her family from infancy but now in her adulthood she chose to make a fundamental decision to follow Jesus Christ. The consequence of her decision was that she was ostracised from the family and subjected to death threats. Today, she is living a fruitful Christian life but she first had to pay the unpleasant price of rejection from her biological family.
I have listened to stories of people who lost their jobs because their employers felt uncomfortable with their faith in Jesus. Some too have lost relationships they once treasured because they chose to uphold the values of their faith in Jesus.
In our Gospel text, Jesus tells his disciples, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household” (Mt. 10:34-36).
Faith in Jesus comes with a price. Even among those who call themselves Christians, when one chooses to take his/her faith seriously, the others look at him/her askance. Either explicitly or implicitly, they find ways to discourage the one who takes the “Jesus thing too seriously”.
In sum anyone who decides to go all out for Jesus is destined to be persecuted (cf. 2Tim 3:12 ). This is the cross that Jesus refers to in our Gospel text: “Whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it” (Mt 10:38-39).
Are you under pressure on account of your decision to go all out for Jesus? Do you feel misunderstood? Are you feeling the weight of the price of discipleship? Courage, you are not alone. There are others with you in the same boat. The good news is that the boat is heading towards eternal bliss with Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus, I choose to follow you, come what may. Just give me the grace to keep going and never to turn back. Amen
Fr. Andrews Obeng, SVD
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)