Cycle C - Year I:

23 June 2013 - 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Liturgical color: Green)

Luke 9:18-24

The demands of discipleship!

Let us begin our reflection on the Sunday Gospel with the song of the psalmist: My soul is thirsting for you, O Lord my God! (Psalm 63)

Do we still thirst and search for Jesus in our contemporary world? Is God relevant, or do we need Him in our lives today?

Saint Luke open the gospel narrative for this Sunday portraying Jesus praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him. Jesus asked the disciples two questions. The first one, "Who do the crowds say that I am?" And the second question is directed to the disciples themselves, "But who do you say that I am?"

It was Simon Peter who boldly said in reply, "The Christ of God!" And Jesus started to talk about his impending suffering and death. He challenges the disciples that if they want to stay with him, they must deny themselves in love, take up their cross in sacrifice, and follow him in service.

In our own journey of faith, as we pass through various problems and hardships, we too are confronted with the same question that Jesus asked the disciples: "But who do you say that I am?"

Let us consider our answer carefully, because it may reveal much about our personal image of Christ and our relationship with him.

Jesus challenges us to go deeper into the roots of our faith by making it truly personal. Our personal relationship and knowledge about Jesus is always brought about by the intensity of our prayer life. So that the more that we incorporate prayer in our daily lives the more that Jesus becomes clearer to us, and the more also that we become closer to him.

In other words, it is only through our prayerful life that the true identity of Jesus will crystallize in our lives. Thus, we will be ready to share our faith in Jesus with others, even to the extent of joyfully suffering for the sake of the People of God.

This is the challenge of following Jesus in our contemporary world. Sometimes our culture seems to value the wealth over the needs of people, military and political power over non-violent love, and our own personal welfare and comfort before the needs of those who are impoverished in our midst.

The demands of discipleship call for total commitment and unconditional trust in Jesus to follow in his footsteps and face life's difficulties with hope. Because we live in a world with so much personal and collective sufferings, sometimes or oftentimes of our own making. Even the Church is not spared, as it suffers from dissension and division, even unfounded attacks for its teaching on life and the defense of the unborn.

In the Holy Eucharist at our Sunday Mass, let us therefore pray that the Lord open our hearts that we may see Jesus more clearly. Let us ask God to help us set aside the many distractions that keep us from knowing and serving Jesus, our Lord and Savior, in our brothers and sisters in their daily struggles of living.

A blessed Sunday to us all. And thank you for a moment with God.

Deo Optimo Maximo!