We are all called by God to walk every step in the presence of God the way that God wants us to walk!
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time - Year 'A1' We are all called by God to walk every step in the presence of God the way that God wants us to walk! Romans 13:8 to 10 THE LAW OF LOVE should make all other laws unnecessary! So in this part of Paul's letter to the Romans he wrote: "Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law." So then Paul wrote down the Ten Commandments and he then concludes this short reading writing: 'Love does no evil to the neighbor [remember the word neighbor meant friends and enemies and keeping all the Ten Commandments]." So Paul ends this short and very important reading by telling all these Christians in Rome who are waiting to be martyred: 'Love is the fulfillment of the Law." END OF READING. If our hearts and our spirit are shaped by genuine love we will never injure anyone, friend or enemy. So why do all countries have so many defensive weapons? ANSWER: There must be fear in everyone! Such a world makes all people fear instead of love! So we all live in a world of fear! Too bad we do not know the song "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Note the brevity of this reading!! So why are my commentaries so long? The answer is evident: "FEAR !!" Note well! Jesus never suffered from fear and He always endured His pain!! Let us remember this when death is at our door! Luke 14:25 to 33 JESUS BEGINS THIS READING BY TELLING US: "If anyone comes to Me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brother and sister, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his [and help others to carry theirs] own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." Then Jesus gave two similar examples: "What king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he [the enemy] is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms." Then Jesus applies this short story to everyone saying: "Everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be My disciple!"END OF GOSPEL! SOME NEEDED BACKGROUND: When Jesus said these words of this Gospel He was on the road to Jerusalem and to His cross! Do not forget that Jesus was a man and He always was and is God! And the thousands of Jews who were with Jesus thought He was on His way to make a new world empire! They were all right and wrong! For Jesus was on His way to make a new world Empire but one of heavenly origin! So Jesus knew He was on His way to power and glory! And He knew that on His way He would suffer and die on the cross and thereby gain eternal life in heaven next to His heavenly Father. But all the thousands of common Jews thought He and they were on their way to power and glory to overcome the Roman Empire! They were all both right and wrong! Jesus was on His way to power and glory! The common Jews thought He and they were on their way to power and glory to overcome the Romans Empire! So we have THREE CONCLUSIONS: FIRST CONCLUSION: It is possible to be a follower of Jesus without being a disciple! Or a camp-follower without being a soldier, or to be a kind of hanger-on in some great work without pulling our own weight! SECOND CONCLUSION: As Christians our first duty is to count the cost of following Jesus. This is so in every various spheres of life. Even in England during the marriage formula the minister tells the couple who are about to get married: "Marriage is not to be entered upon lightly or unadvisedly, but through faith reverently and in fear of God." THIRD CONCLUSION: And this one is so in our own church: It is Good and our church who tells us we must be daunted by the high demands of our Church and of God, we are not left to fulfill our Catholic demands alone. God who calls us to get married, or be a priest, or a nun, we are all called to walk every step of the way to be there at the end in the presence of our Triune One God! Peace, Love & Faith, Angelo
