Take up your cross

Mark 10:28-31
Peter began to say to him, "Lo, we have left everything and followed you." 
Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 
But many that are first will be last, and the last first." 

Homily:
Jesus Christ consistently shared the need to follow Him and the attendant persecutions.

"Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me." - Matthew 10:38

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." - Matthew 16:24

"Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me." - Mark 8:34

"Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me." - Luke 9:23

"And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple." - Luke 14:27

To understand His use of the cross, do not think of how we currently perceive the cross today as a symbol of love, redemption, or a necessary burden to glory.

Think of the fear, humiliation, agony and death the cross provoked in His day.

Now imagine being told to expect a cross as part of the package of following Jesus Christ and having eternal life.

Being a disciple was and is no mean feat.

But remember these words of Jesus Christ -

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." - John 15:18-19

Dear Lord, grant me the grace to follow you and prioritise what pleases you.

Eternal life

Mark 10:17-27
And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 
And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 
You know the commandments: `Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'" 
And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have observed from my youth."
And Jesus looking upon him loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." 
At that saying his countenance fell, and he went away sorrowful; for he had great possessions. 
And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it will be for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!" 
And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, "Then who can be saved?" 
Jesus looked at them and said, "With men it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God." 

Homily:
May we not unwittingly replace God with any other gods.

In the above passage, we get insight into what is required for eternal life. We should thank that man. For without him, we would have thought that obeying the commandments and coming to Jesus Christ was enough.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?

Step 1: Obey the commandments. (God's law comes first).
Step 2: Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. (Let go of earthly gods).
Step 3: Come, follow me. ("Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." - John 14:6).

The man was held back by Step 2. He already observed Step 1 and he had already done a part of Step 3 - come to Jesus Christ, but to follow Jesus Christ, he first needed Step 2 - let go and Let God. He left sorrowful.

"Jesus replied, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”" - Luke 9:62

Your fruit

Luke 6:43-45
"For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit; for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thorns, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil man out of his evil treasure produces evil; for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.

Homily:
"Each tree is known by its own fruit."

What do you produce?
What do you create?
What do you bring forth?

Are you blaming the choices, chances and circumstances available?

Does an apple tree produce anything but apples, in spite of choices, chances and circumstances? It either produces apples or it does not exist.

Luckily, humans are not trees, so where choices, chances and circumstances are unfavourable, we can move. Move to where you can flourish.

There is no excuse to produce who you are not.

What fruits do we see in the world?
"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." - Galatians 5:19-21

As a Christian, what are your fruits?
"But the fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control. Against such things there is no law." - Galatians 5:22-23

You will be known by your fruit.

How does a child receive?

Mark 10:13-16
And they were bringing children to him, that he might touch them; and the disciples rebuked them. 
But when Jesus saw it he was indignant, and said to them, "Let the children come to me, do not hinder them; for to such belongs the kingdom of God. 
Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." 
And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands upon them.

Homily:
How does a child receive?

First with wonder and gratitude.
Then the child's curiosity kicks in and they dig deeper (opening, tasting, testing, asking lots of questions) into what has been received.
Curiosity precedes mastery. They slowly build mastery over the gift, just as comfortable in the phases from not knowing to knowing.
Finally they share what they got. Speaking with confidence about it or bragging about it to those around them.

"Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it." - Mark 10:15

Friends

Sirach 6:5-17
A pleasant voice multiplies friends, and a gracious tongue multiplies courtesies. 
Let those that are at peace with you be many, but let your advisers be one in a thousand. 
When you gain a friend, gain him through testing, and do not trust him hastily. 
For there is a friend who is such at his own convenience, but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. 
And there is a friend who changes into an enemy, and will disclose a quarrel to your disgrace. 
And there is a friend who is a table companion, but will not stand by you in your day of trouble. 
In prosperity he will make himself your equal, and be bold with your servants; but if you are brought low he will turn against you, and will hide himself from your presence. 
Keep yourself far from your enemies, and be on guard toward your friends. 
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter: he that has found one has found a treasure. 
There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence. 
A faithful friend is an elixir of life; and those who fear the Lord will find him. 
Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, for as he is, so is his neighbor also. 

Homily:
Trust, but verify - Russian Proverb.

My grandmother and mother always say 3 things about friendship -

"Show me your friends, and I will tell you who you are."

"A friend in need is a friend indeed."

"Betrayal is never by an enemy."a

How many close friends have become strangers as you have grown? How many close friends have become enemies as you change? How many old friends are you more careful with, as you get more access?
It will not change as you progress in life. The cycle will continue.

To improve the quality of your friends, you must first improve yourself. You are the sieve, and what you keep, stays.

Friendship is one of the few golden experiences of life. If you test and find a true friend in life, grace abounds.

In all things, Put God First

Sirach 5:1-8
Do not set your heart on your wealth, nor say, "I have enough." 
Do not follow your inclination and strength, walking according to the desires of your heart. 
Do not say, "Who will have power over me?" for the Lord will surely punish you. 
Do not say, "I sinned, and what happened to me?" for the Lord is slow to anger. 
Do not be so confident of atonement that you add sin to sin. 
Do not say, "His mercy is great, he will forgive the multitude of my sins," for both mercy and wrath are with him, and his anger rests on sinners. 
Do not delay to turn to the Lord, nor postpone it from day to day; for suddenly the wrath of the Lord will go forth, and at the time of punishment you will perish. 
Do not depend on dishonest wealth, for it will not benefit you in the day of calamity.

Homily:
It is easy to take God for granted and ascribe victories to self. Especially when His love, mercy, grace and favor abounds.

It is easy for the flesh to weaken the spirit with endless insatiable desires.

It is easy to forget how fleeting life is, when we think we hold all the aces.

It is easy to undermine God's role in our lives, and be blinded by hubris to the consequences of ingratitude.

It is easy to forgive and forget ourselves. Always justifying our actions and rationalizing its effects, without asking God for forgiveness and changing our ways. Our memory fails us, because of the lag between cause and effect.

It is easy to take offense and punish others, but our stiff judgment of others becomes the yardstick for God's judgment of our own actions and the punishment that follows.

In all things, Put God First.

You will come to see that even though the choices can be hard (staying humble in spite of great victories, fasting in spite of great wealth, praying in spite of great winning streaks, commitment in spite of alternatives, gentleness in spite of great strength, forgiveness in spite of great authority), your life will have more meaning.

Leave judgment to God

Mark 9:38-40
John said to him, "Teacher, we saw a man casting out demons in your name, and we forbade him, because he was not following us." 
But Jesus said, "Do not forbid him; for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon after to speak evil of me. 
For he that is not against us is for us. 

Homily:
Denominational christianity did not start today. Somehow, humans have always and will continue to seek exclusivity from a catholic God.

Instead of spending time deciding who is with us or against us based on our doctrines, let us focus more on our journey. The purifying of thoughts, words and deeds is lifelong and the best signal to our belief.

Salvation will not be dependent on the crowd we are in. Each of us will answer for our intentions and actions.

Leave judgment to God. None of us are worthy in our thoughts, words or deeds to pass judgment.

Show mercy to others, just as you are continually shown mercy.

Avoid comparison. If we were created to compare, we would not have been created uniquely.