Committed Discipleship

The question was asked, "What does it mean to be a disciple?" The answer given was, "To be a follower of God!" Yes, to be a follower of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Our Lord tells us in the gospels that if we wish to be his disciple, we must deny our very selves, take up our cross, and follow him. The gospel for today, Luke 9:57-62, presents different answers when it comes to following Christ. One person said to Jesus, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father." Jesus answered, "Let the dead bury their dead. But you, go and proclaim the Kingdom of God." Another told Jesus he would follow him but needed to say farewell to his family. To that Jesus replied, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the Kingdom of God." Those might have been considered excuses in those days and surprisingly enough, those excuses continue in our present day. Times have changed but people still come up with reasons for not following the Lord. Many excuses come with our spirituality especially in our prayer life and Mass attendance. We come up with reasons for not praying and for not going to Mass and that is not what our Lord wants. He wants us to be committed, faithful, dedicated disciples. God has given us the tools and resources that we need to live our lives and our faith but we always choose the contrary. One commentator said that we need to have the commitment that the first person in today's gospel had, "I will follow you wherever you go." Saying that and living it takes total faith, trust, commitment and that is what discipleship is all about. We need to get our priorities straight and putting God number one in our lives is where we need to start. As for the disciple in the gospel, are you, am I willing to make that commitment in following the Lord wherever he goes?