Saturday September 3rd: Lord of the Sabbath
September 3, 2022
Monday, September 5th: Set like a mapapi
September 5, 2022

Sunday September 4th: Enthusiasm is not Enough

‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’

Luke 14: 25 – 33

What we need is Contemplation and Action

We are often like the great crowds that are following Jesus with great enthusiasm. I think of the amazing energy at Charismatic meetings, or masses with choirs that can have everyone in the congregation swaying and clapping; and our priests and deacons who give such inspiring spirit-filled homilies that you leave feeling you can go out and change the world and lead an army into the kingdom.

However, enthusiasm is not enough. We need to discern, ‘to sit down and calculate the cost’. Discernment requires first of all awareness of what we are embarking on, and, secondly, an understanding of the cost, the cross we must now carry having made that decision; and finally, what action is required. We should not just march into battle.

This Gospel tells me that following Jesus’s way is not an easy road; it requires a lifestyle that
requires both contemplation and action. When Jesus stopped and turned around to address his enthusiastic crowd perhaps he was asking them to discern if they are really prepared to continue this journey. Are we?

Photo by Kid Circus on Unsplash