Scripture Reflections for the Thirteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

“Jesus calls us to follow him in a whole-hearted way, and when we resist that, when we effectively say to Jesus, ‘Come on, be reasonable!’, it’s because we don’t love what he loves, certainly not in the way he loves it.”

“You can either fall to the fear let it control you, or you can do what you can and move forward, trusting that Christ will provide”

“Should we be rewarded with, are we entitled to, all the amenities and comforts of life in compensation for giving ourselves to Jesus and to His Church? Are we willing to do what Jesus expects of us, if and when it is inconvenient (heart-breaking) to ourselves?”

“the throne of David was established, when Christ reigned from a tree...There he taught the Torah in its completeness, which is the law of charity for us to learn through the grace of the Cross.”

“The ‘Light which is to lighten the gentiles and be the glory of Israel’ — there right at the beginning of Luke’s work — has spread to the secular world. Has it transformed the ‘worldly empire’ or been eclipsed by it? There lies the enigma.”

“Looking back is sometimes people’s solution to the fear they experience by looking ahead. Christians, however, must steel themselves for what’s coming rather than bury themselves in what’s been.”

“There's an either/or quality to Jesus and there's an either/or quality to Christian discipleship”

“We, like Jesus, are on our way to our destiny which is paradoxically our center and every choice we make, every action we take, grows us into that way or keeps us by the way. Sometimes we may have to make definitive decisions that set our direction on the heart of God.”

“Are we willing truly and completely to walk with him? Truly and completely in every way to let all worldly goods fall aside to follow him?”

“God’s true freedom is the freedom to master self in order to live with love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”

“Are today’s readings only for those discerning a change in career? I think not. Leaving behind our plow can represent the many barriers or safety blankets that we hold on to when we are asked to love God above all else and to truly love our neighbors.”

“This is what Christ is asking of us today though, in the three readings – to accept His call, to seek freedom through Him, no matter what is oppressing us, and to fully commit to Him and let go of those things holding us back.”

“Jesus came to break down any barriers that keep us from knowing and loving one another, and being open to forgiving hurts of the past”

“In serving and being served, we are freed from the prison of self and at the same time receive the free gift of love, which is often surprising, sometimes not what we think we need”

“Allow these questions, Christians, to sink deep into your soul this week: Who finally comes first? Who finally matters?”

“When you know what God wants you to do you do it...without hesitation, without second-guessing, without questioning you do it because it's not your will that matters so much, it's God's will”

“What Christ is saying is “if you are my follower you must be utterly free from all those constraints, interior and exterior, and you must be willing to say, 'Lord, I live only for you'””