July 1, 2019 Monday
13th Week in
Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Genesis 18:16-23Gospel: Mt 8:18–22
When he saw the crowd press around him, Jesus gave orders to cross to the other shore. A teacher of the Law approached him and said, “Master, I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”A-nother disciple said to him, “Lord, let me go and bury my father first.” But Jesus answered him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
Discipleship couldn’t be less radical than this: to leave the past behind no matter how cozy, to embrace the future no matter how hazy, and to take up the challenges of today no matter how heavy. Our God had lived this way. Like Master like follower!
We need to leave the past behind no matter how cozy. He who holds on to the plow and keeps looking back is not worthy of the kingdom. Just as a husband must cut off exclusive relationships of the past if he wants the marriage to prosper, so a disciple must cut off all illegitimate attachments in the past to start anew in the Spirit. Even legitimate pleasures of the past must sometimes be abandoned.
We need to embrace the future no matter how hazy. To follow Jesus at that time was a real gamble because Jesus was a wandering Jew. Moreover Jesus did not make false promises to attract followers. He was even candid enough to tell an applicant that he did not have a place to lay his head and rest. If we want to follow Jesus, we must be ready to embrace the future no matter how hazy. This means following Jesus in total trust; anything less is false discipleship.
We must take up the challenges of the present no matter how heavy. A story is told of a dog running after a stray chicken. Other dogs joined the chase until all dogs in the subdivision were running down the street. In the end, the other dogs began wondering why they were running. Those who ran simply because they saw other dogs running disengaged themselves from the pack. Only the dog that saw the chicken persevered. The lesson is clear: It is important to know why we have become disciples. If we don’t recognize a God at the head of the pack we disengage ourselves from the race at the slightest discouragement.
It is not enough to recognize the God we are following. We should keep in mind the requisites of discipleship. We must deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him. None of these requisites is open to compromises. That’s how radical discipleship is! – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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