“What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them
would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert
and go after the lost one until he finds it?
Why become disciple of Jesus
…great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them…
Jesus is talking today not only to his apostles who made mind to fallow him but
He talks to the crowds – presents to masses challenges of fallowing him
You have to make decision to hate your family??
What does it mean?
It is Semitic phraseology that says that everything and everyone in your life has to be
secondary in relation to Jesus Christ
Your children, wife, parents, your mission of making this world better place,
Everything !!! He wants to be first, before all and above all!
I have been 4 years priest, 8 years in the seminary and 2 more since I converted, 14
years and im struggling a lot with Gospel
.. whoever does not carry his own cross cannot be my disciple….
Why do we carry crosses? To die on them..
Our crosses in many ways kill us
They kill our pride, our need for being smarter than others,
They kill attachment to wrong passions, desires
To being liked, respected, honored.
Cross is a tool for cleansing us
So everything that is not from God can die in me
Cross and my dying there create desert, emptiness, vacant place
Where God is waiting to come and take me into possession, ownership,
To transform me,
So he can live in us and through us
The thing about cross it that it requires full consciousness,
full awareness, mindset in order to carry it.
We can not carry cross just by accident –
It’s a decision.
It requires intentionality, being present, being there, to make right decision,
To accept Christ in humiliation, rejection, modesty, poverty, chastity, in freedom
…anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple…
We are called to live simple so others can simply live
So simple
And I’m first who is guilty of not rejecting my possessions so I can have more freedom
for Christ and for you and for everyone else
I just bought LED kit to my little black Kia Soul, interior lights so It can look cool…
I knew I don’t need it, but still I bought it
Just wasting of money, when millions of people are starving every day
..If you want to be my disciple..
What does it really mean to be Jesus disciple?
Does it mean to pray every day? Do fasting on Wednesday and Friday ?
Do not dance, do not drink alcohol? Do not play poker, do not wear nice clothes ?
Be always serious ?
Go to church every day?
Looks like What Jesus ask us is way too much
Nobody can do it on his own
Why at all to do it?
Just so you can suffer, lose your job, forgive everyone who hurts you,
Be peacemaker that everyone laugh at you?
Are you now Christ disciples ?
How does it make you different from those who don’t care?
Who don’t forgive, who hold grudges, who are envy and jealous,
who hurt others to achieve their goals ?
Just because you come once a week or even every day does not make you Christ
disciple
So what makes me Christ disciple?
Having him above everything in my life
Carrier, family, security, good health, respect
Everything.
Doing what seems to be impossible.
Being the last one. Being free. Loving enemies, forgiving everyone, being peacemaker
But first of all
As I’m thinking about how impossible is to be and live that way
First of all
Disciple of Christ lives his live intentionally,
Doesn’t let his passions direct his decisions,
Disciple of Christ is a free man. Free person
Who accepts his crosses
Who accept suffering and pain and struggle in his live
Disciple of Christ lives his live to the fullness
This is all. This is the secret.
Doing what seems to be so impossible, so difficult, so challenging,
Making decision towards that, helps me to live my live to the fullness
Means the way God sees is.
Christ lived his live to the fullness
He was freeman
He intentionally went to Jerusalem to die there
He Intentionally died for me
He Intentionally became men
He Intentionally let people spit on him, beat him, and treat him as a trash
All he wants from me to live my life Intentionally, not by accident
He wants us live to the fullness
Fullness of happiness too
It’s possible only when we hate everything else because of him and when we take our
daily crosses and carry them
Humility and Black Sheep That Jesus Talks About. 22 Sund C.
On a sabbath Jesus went to dine
at the home of one of the leading Pharisees,
and the people there were observing him carefully. Continue reading
Lord, will only few people be saved?
Jesus passed through towns and villages,
teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.
Someone asked him,
“Lord, will only a few people be saved?”
He answered them,
“Strive to enter through the narrow gate, Continue reading
Who is God’s Treasure?
..Be sure of this: if the master of the house had known the hour when the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. You also must be prepared..
How well we know these words from our own experience! Continue reading
Brave women and my lazy heart.
GospelMT 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
“Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!
My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Continue reading
Being rich in what matters to God. 18 Sunday
There is a rich man whose land produced a bountiful harvest…
He doesn’t see how blessed he is.. Continue reading
Urgent and important versus important but not urgent
GospelLK 10:38-42
Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. Continue reading
Jesus, Good Samaritan and Two Silver Coins
GospelLK 10:25-37
There was a scholar of the law who stood up to test him and said,
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Continue reading
“Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Continue reading
Between Prayer and Reality.
Who I am God?
Gospel LK 9:18-24
Once when Jesus was praying by himself,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist;
others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He scolded them
and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
Its a very challenging gospel today :It reminds us that Jesus mission was not only to preach, teach and heal but his main mission was to suffer, die and rise from the dead for us
And We are part of the church, of Christ Mystical body.
We are called to share in his mission too.
Part of this mission is not only to teach others, to evangelize, to help others but also to suffer.
And we need to accept it.
Some whow we got into vision of Christianity that God will be saving us from suffering
Not quite so… We had wrong expectations..
Im Christian so I can share gospel and Gods love, compassion and mercy with others,
but Im Christian so I can also with Gods help carry my daily crosses and accept suffering that happens in my life
Im Christian so I can not only live with Christ but also suffer with him
This is not only time Jesus reminds his disciples about his mission and suffering he is expect to
happen. They didnt get it.
And reason why we and they struggle so much with who we are as Christians, who we are as Christ disciples is because most often we don’t to fallow what he was doing,
Lets go to the first lines of the Gospel:
..Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples where with him, he asked them…
First, Jesus is praying but disciples not..
Theses guys struggle with prayer a lot. Gospels never mentioned a word that disciples were
praying… They asked him how to pray, they watched him praying, but they didn’t pray..
It is Jesus who is praying in solitude and out of this prayer he asks disciples:
Who do you say I am?
It is prayer that lead us to clearer understanding of who we are,
It is pray that reveals to us who we are as disciples, what is our mission,
It is prayer that prepares us and gives us strength to carry our crosses,
to accept suffering, to suffer with Christ,
to be the light for the world,
To live our lives the way God invites us to do
It is easy to answer with Peter: You are the Christ of God!
But We need to ask this question to ourselves too:
Who do you say that I am God?
We need to hear it too: you are my beloved child, you are my disciple.
There is painting of the Holy Family given to Knights of Columbus and blessed by Pope Francis.
Its at the baptismal fount, where we were baptized and where we became members of Gods Family
This painting invites us to pray more for our families
Especially as we celebrate Fathers Day.
We pray for our fathers. That fathers will be the first one in family who will pray in solitude.
That Fathers will ask that question to: God who do you say that I am
That Fathers will continue bringing family together for prayer
So as a family you may continue to learn who do you are
And that in prayer you fill find strength to accept your daily crosses, to suffer with Christ, to bring light and hope to the world.
Who do you say that I am God?
I pray that you will have courage to take this question for prayer and that you will find patience to let God answer you.
vessel4him 