JOHN 6:68-69 (Today’s Gospel Reading: John 6:60-69)

Jakarta, 20 April 2024

A Christian Pilgrim

 

THE COMPLETE DEDICATION REQUIRED OF A DISCIPLE

Today’s Gospel Reading: Matthew 10:34-11:1 – FIFTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR: Monday, 16 July 2018

Jesus makes a related point in today’s Gospel reading. He ends the missionary sermon by speaking of the complete dedication required of a disciple in very severe terms. The language in strong and total. Just a prayer is not a separate track but an expression of our lives, so “dedication” is not a certain thing or set of “things” we do but a way of doing everything else. Dedication is functionally an adjective rather than a noun. Our spiritual life, then, is not simply a collection of isolated prayerful moments in our daily schedule. It is a way of living.

We must take care not to let our spiritual life and our “real life” drift apart. Keeping the together is the mark of an adult and practiced Christian.

Jakarta, 16 July 2018

A Christian Pilgrim

 

JESUS TALKS ABOUT DISCIPLESHIP

Today’s Gospel Reading: Matthew 8:18-22 – THIRTEENTH WEEK OF THE YEAR: Monday, 2 July 2018

Jesus warns those who wish to follow Him that they should be prepared to live simply, be attached to nothing and to allow nothing  to delay or hinder their discipleship. All of this is applicable on a deeper level. It would be too facile to express the simple elimination of material goods to release a Niagara of spiritual insight. In fact, voluntary poverty can well be a way of evading community responsibility.

Even in a monastery or convent it is difficult to follow Christ. The temptations there are more subtle and it may even be necessary to work with greater effort to keep faith because the liturgy and words of Scripture can easily become too familiar and lose their drama, power and bite. Wealth is not the only obstacle to following the Lord. We all have to do some dying inside to let the risen Lord come to life within us. There is no escaping that.

There is no automatic entry to spiritual vitality without the hard challenge of community covenant living.

Jakarta, 2 July 2018

A Christian Pilgrim