The first reading today from Amos 2 has to do with crime and punishment. God lets it be known that acts of wickedness will not go unpunished. He issues a warning to those who profess to be part of the covenant and yet do evil in the sight of the Lord.
The Gospel reading today from Matthew 8 is all about the cost of being a disciple of Christ. Two disciples reveal their readiness to follow Christ. The first, a scribe, is told (and I paraphrase here), “You have to understand that the Son of Man is a homeless guy with no possessions. Are you ready to go there?” Jesus says something very interesting to the second. When he tells Jesus he wants to go and bury his father, Jesus tells him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead.” Wait…what?
Burying the dead is a corporal work of mercy. Was Jesus really saying that His disciples should not bury the dead? Of course not. His point is that being a disciple of His must take precedent over every other aspect of our lives. Our first and foremost mission is to follow Jesus, wherever He wishes to lead us. Otherwise we will be spiritually dead. So our question for the day is this: Are we ready to follow Jesus WHEREVER He wishes to lead us? Or are we more intent on following our own path?
Father, give us a greater desire and strength and courage to follow Jesus wherever that road may take us. Amen.
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I used to read this every day and I must have clicked the wrong thing and cancelled it…..how do I get it back?
I used to get your daily reflections emailed to me but in recent weeks they have stopped. They don’t appear to have gone to my junk mail either. Can you put me back on your list… Thanks Gus
Ps and thank you for praying for all four of my adult sons that are away from the church and don’t seem to have any relationship with Christ or prayer life. It really is heartbreaking… They went to Catholic school, we attended Mass as a family, prayed around the kitchen table etc. All four made a high school retreat similar to the adult Cursillo and two of them went back to get involved as part of the team. I’ve been very fascinated by your own personal journey over the years as I’ve listened to Seize the Day on SiriusXM since my oldest son was in high school. My sons are 25 to 35 years old and at this point I feel all I can do is pray. I’ve had spiritual conversations with them here and there over the years without trying to be in their face about it. So has my husband when I have prompted him… He is a convert and while he is a very intellectual man with a love for CS Lewis, the Catholic practices in our home have definitely fallen to me. I hunger for my son‘s to have a hunger for the Lord and to serve him instead of the world of relativism. I pray the rosary and the chaplet at Divine Mercy fairly regularly, I talk to Saint Monica and Saint Augustine. I want my family to spend all eternity together Gus and it just makes me so sad that they put Jesus on a shelf. I hope and pray I will see a reversion back to their faith this side of heaven. My daughter and son-in-law and grandchildren however are practicing the faith beautifully and I know my boys are watching them. I don’t even know if you will respond to this Gus… I’m just rambling and sharing from a mother’s hurting heart… Jesus I trust in you.
Thank you Gus for all that you are doing to build up the kingdom. Seize the Day is the main reason I listen to the Catholic channel🥰🙏🙏☝️