November 7, 2007
Wednesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
By
“Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8)
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. … Everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27, 33)
Piety
Lord, help me to keep my priorities straight. Let me always remember the words of Saint Joan of Arc: “Let God be served first!”
Study
“No baggage wanted.”
Those of us who are single Catholics braving the waters of dating—either online or through friends—see or hear this phrase all the time. We’re not looking for people who still need to process—read that as complain about, idolize, or mourn—past spouse, lovers, or friends. We’re looking for people who live in the now, who are positive and passionate about their lives today.
It’s a pretty thought that we can find people who don’t carry baggage, but it’s highly unlikely that we will. Other people and events and what we learned through those experiences helped form who we are today. No one is perfect; we all are flawed. And Christ, if not the people we may be interested in dating, knows that. Yet he still wants us. In fact, he loves us so much he wants us to put him first in our lives.
Today’s Gospel isn’t a call to hate those here on earth who are closest to us. Rather, it’s a call to get our priorities in order. Carrying our cross takes a great deal of energy, the energy that can be found only when we love and serve the Lord first. Living the Word must be our top priority.
The beautiful thing is that when we put God and His commandments first, our temporal life has a way of falling into place as well. We find the strength to evangelize. We find the peace to forgive others their trespasses. We find the joy to accept what cannot be changed about our own baggage and that of others—just as the Lord does.
Action
Identify your greatest “possession:” Pride? Fear? Covetousness? Selfishness? Ego? Renounce it just for today in favor of following Christ’s path, and see how much lighter your baggage can be.
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