Gospel Lectio Divina for Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time - September 4, 2022
Anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.
Holding onto things has become our way of life. Storage unit facilities are being built more than ever before. We have savings accounts, trust accounts, broker accounts, and the list goes on. None of these things are wrong or bad or evil, but there is something better. We can give up all of these things and still be okay. Excessive concern for our possessions will make us lose sight of what is infinite and eternal. Ultimately, renunciation of the treasures of this world is at the heart of the Gospel. Earlier, Jesus used a short analogy of a king going into battle. Whenever a king (or these days, a general) went (or goes) into battle, he knows there is great risk involved. He has to calculate and mitigate the risk the best he can. History has proven though, that “fortune favors the bold”, and if you take no risk you receive no reward–and in fact taking no risk is the greatest risk of all. Okay, I’m done with my litany of cliches. My point is, that living the Gospel is the ultimate risk. It is the ultimate high-stakes game. It’s the boldest wager we can bet because we are putting all we have on the line for a reward we’ve never even really seen. In the end, we don’t even know if the reward will really come to us. But this is the condition for following Jesus. Are you all in?
PRAY
Dear heavenly Father,
Your message is clear: unless we love you above all else we will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Oh, how I struggle to put you first. I cannot pray enough to ask for your help in this matter. Through your blessed angels and saints, please grant me the grace I need to pursue only what is true, good, and beautiful; and to stop running from you. You know my heart’s truest and deepest desires better than I do, so it makes the most sense to love you more than I love myself or anyone else. In Jesus’ name, Amen.