Impassioned

“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. Luke 14

In his impassioned words this morning, Jesus speaks to us of the high cost of our discipleship. He wants our love for him and the Kingdom to transform all our relationships and ways of being and acting. There is to be no space, no part of our lives that is to be separate from him and his love.

Jesus points us to the cross, to his excruciating self-offering in all its bitterness and pain. There on the cross his infinite mercy and compassion will burst all bounds. Baptized into him, Jesus wants us with him, embracing our own crosses. Our self-offering joined to that of Jesus will make us with him a source of life and hope for all. The cross is a bridge, a gateway. In Jesus' death, death will die, for the Father will not allow his Beloved to know decay. Jesus' resurrection will be accomplished by the Father’s love. This is where our cross-bearing with Jesus will bring us. 

Photograph by Brother Brian.