13th Week of Year
SAM = St Augustine Monastery, Nova Scotia, Canada
IN TODAY’S GOSPEL...(MT 8:21-22)...Jesus Christ, as the Son of God, places Himself FIRST before ALL OUR
Human & Earthly Concerns. “ One of His Disciples said to Him...Lord let me go first & bury my Father...
...but Jesus said to him.....”Follow ME, & let the Dead bury their Dead.”
YOU WOULD THINK that Our Lord would say something like...”well OK...go bury your Father first.” But NO!
Christ says...all such matters must be put aside. GOD MUST BE FIRST in our Life. ( Note: There are more than
33 times where we find in the New Testament....references to “FOLLOW ME.”
THIS INVITATION goes out to ALL MANKIND. We are to follow Christ...& Listen to Christ’s call. He wants us
to ...OBEY His Commands.....COOPERATE with His Grace...SEEK His Truth...& do so with our whole HEART,
our whole SOUL & our whole MIND.
CHRIST CAME to call us Sinners...but NOT the Self-Righteous...those who think they have no Sins to Confess...
....or not many sins. Our Lord always looks into the Hearts of us sinners. God sees the real possibilities...
.....& the Real HOPE of us growing still closer to the Good God.
OUR LORD ONCE SAID....LK 7:47...”I say to you her sins, many as they are, shall be forgiven because she has
loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, loves little.” Those who have fallen into...Serious or Mortal Sin
...know the bitter after-taste...the sense of Guilt...of Disgust...the sense of Being Lost.
NOTE the Church has always taught that SERIOUS = MORTAL. There is NO SUCH THING as a Serious Sin that
is not,...AT THE SAME TIME, MORTAL. The word “MORTAL” is from the Latin “to die”...meaning the Loss of
Heaven & assignment to Eternal HELL...where there will be MT 8:12...“WEEPING & GNASHING OF TEETH.
”This is what is known as the EFFECTS OF SIN....which can be Physical, Mental and/or Moral. Such are also
called “the FRUITS of SIN.”
ALL SINNERS know what Our Lord’s Invitation to “Come Follow Me” REALLY MEANS. The Sinner knows what
it means to turn back to Him.....with True Sorrow & Love. We recall St. Peter ,who denied Christ three times,
now had to Reaffirm & Repeat...three times his LOVE for Christ. WHY? Because Christ wanted Peter to be
TOTALLY with Him......in Faith, Fidelity & Love.
OUR LORD doesn’t want THINGS from us! He wants US! He wants our SINCERITY, our SORROW...our daily
attempts at PERSEVERANCE...our continuing RESOLVE to SEEK.....& to REMAIN in His Heart...& UNITED to Him
by His GRACE.
THIS OFTEN requires a CHANGE in our Lives. With some people it means a BIG CHANGE....with others it
means a Rounding off of the Rough Edges of Selfishness.....& all the Little Sins that keep us from Reaching
the Higher Rungs.....of Grace & Union with Christ. BUT LET NO ONE BE DISCOURAGED....for it CAN BE DONE!
FOR BOTH THE BIG ST THERESA OF AVILA...& MOTHER THERESA OF CALCUTTA HAVE SAID...
”WITH CHRIST I CAN DO ANYTHING.”
WE ALL NEED TO REMEMBER THIS....BECAUSE IT ‘S SO IMPORTANT...FOR BOTH RELIGIOUS & LAITY..
WHO ARE ALL TRYING TO GROW CLOSER TO GOD EVERY DAY!