Posts Tagged ‘follow jesus’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: September 2, 2021 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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The Lord calls all of us to discipleship,  which in essence is fidelity to His Word and Will for us. Do you remember your call to discipleship? How on many occasions you felt the Lord call you to a task and how you agonized over whether it was His call or your own mind playing tricks. But the call grew louder as your heart started thumping hard. You then decided to cast away your fears and feelings of inadequacy to move forward with His task for you. Then lo and behold, you look back and saw His grace upon everything. You were His partner, a powerful instrument of His grace in the lives of others! 

This is what happens when we place all our trust and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. He will make all things new! All we have to do is say Yes!

“Yes Lord I leave everything behind and I follow You. Lead me Lord.” Amen

First reading

Colossians 1:9-14 ·

God has taken us out of the power of darkness

Ever since the day we heard about you, we have never failed to pray for you, and what we ask God is that through perfect wisdom and spiritual understanding you should reach the fullest knowledge of his will. So you will be able to lead the kind of life which the Lord expects of you, a life acceptable to him in all its aspects; showing the results in all the good actions you do and increasing your knowledge of God. You will have in you the strength, based on his own glorious power, never to give in, but to bear anything joyfully, thanking the Father who has made it possible for you to join the saints and with them to inherit the light.

    Because that is what he has done: he has taken us out of the power of darkness and created a place for us in the kingdom of the Son that he loves, and in him, we gain our freedom, the forgiveness of our sins.

Gospel

Luke 5:1-11

They left everything and followed him

Jesus was standing one day by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the crowd pressing round him listening to the word of God, when he caught sight of two boats close to the bank. The fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats – it was Simon’s – and asked him to put out a little from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat.

    When he had finished speaking he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water and pay out your nets for a catch.’ ‘Master,’ Simon replied, ‘we worked hard all night long and caught nothing, but if you say so, I will pay out the nets.’ And when they had done this they netted such a huge number of fish that their nets began to tear, so they signalled to their companions in the other boat to come and help them; when these came, they filled the two boats to sinking point.

    When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus saying, ‘Leave me, Lord; I am a sinful man.’ For he and all his companions were completely overcome by the catch they had made; so also were James and John, sons of Zebedee, who were Simon’s partners. But Jesus said to Simon, ‘Do not be afraid; from now on it is men you will catch.’ Then, bringing their boats back to land, they left everything and followed him.

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: February 18, 2021 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Love, 2010, by Larry Cole © Larry Cole Art

“Renounce yourself, take up your cross and follow me.” This Lord is Your invitation Lord for me to love and be loved in and through You. For You O Lord are LOVE!

Why have I been so reluctant in the past to take up Your offer? Was it fear of losing my autonomy? Was it fear that I was expected to experience some form of horrible death as You did upon the cross? Was is fear of losing my little enjoyments and pleasures? Fear of this and of that! Was it simply FEAR that prevented me from entering into a deeper relationship with You?

You O Lord had spoken lovingly and ever so often in Your Word telling me each time “Do not fear…”

‘Do not fear for I am with You, do not fear only believe, do not fear little flock.’ And so the truth Lord is that I did not trust You enough to surrender to Your endearing love for me.

I was a fool for going my own way Lord, for there is nothing more fulfilling then falling deeply into Your loving embrace when I renounce myself, take up my cross and follow You. I know now that as I live in the world,  this is not a one time thing but a daily decision.

I have decided this day and every day to trust and follow You, my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

First reading

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 ·

I set before you today life or death, blessing or curse

Moses said to the people: ‘See, today I set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I enjoin on you today, if you love the Lord your God and follow his ways, if you keep his commandments, his laws, his customs, you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you are entering to make your own. But if your heart strays, if you refuse to listen, if you let yourself be drawn into worshipping other gods and serving them, I tell you today, you will most certainly perish; you will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. I call heaven and earth to witness against you today: I set before you life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life, then, so that you and your descendants may live, in the love of the Lord your God, obeying his voice, clinging to him; for in this your life consists, and on this depends your long stay in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob he would give them.’

Gospel

Luke 9:22-25

Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it

Jesus said to his disciples:

    ‘The Son of Man is destined to suffer grievously, to be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes and to be put to death, and to be raised up on the third day.’

    Then to all he said:

    ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross every day and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, that man will save it. What gain, then, is it for a man to have won the whole world and to have lost or ruined his very self?’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: August 7, 2020 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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How have I taken up my Cross to follow Jesus? What have I given up for His namesake? How am I living His Kingdom values? How am I living out my call to discipleship? How many people have I shown love and mercy to today? This week? This month? Without taking the time to dwell on this questions we will remain when we are, not drawing any closer to Him who loves us dearly.

I choose to follow You Jesus….Lead me. Amen

First reading

Nahum 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7Israel restored; Nineveh ruinedSee, over the mountains the messenger hurries!‘Peace!’ he proclaims. Judah, celebrate your feasts, carry out your vows, for Belial will never pass through you again; he is utterly annihilated.Yes, the Lord is restoring the vineyard of Jacob and the vineyard of Israel.For the plunderers had plundered them, they had broken off their branches.Woe to the city soaked in blood, full of lies,stuffed with booty, whose plunderings know no end!The crack of the whip! The rumble of wheels! Galloping horse, jolting chariot, charging cavalry, flash of swords, gleam of spears… a mass of wounded, hosts of dead, countless corpses; they stumble over the dead.I am going to pelt, you with filth, shame you, make you a public show.And all who look on you will turn their backs on you and say, ‘Nineveh is a ruin.’ Could anyone pity her? Where can I find anyone to comfort her?

Gospel

Matthew 16:24-28Anyone who loses his life for my sake will find itJesus said to his disciples: ‘If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. For anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake will find it. What, then, will a man gain if he wins the whole world and ruins his life? Or what has a man to offer in exchange for his life? ‘For the Son of Man is going to come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and, when he does, he will reward each one according to his behaviour. I tell you solemnly, there are some of these standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming with his kingdom.’

On Today’s Gospel

Posted: September 18, 2019 by CatholicJules in Personal Thoughts & Reflections
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Stop complaining! Stop making excuses! Busy, busy, busy! Appointment after appointment, plan after plan. No time for prayer, no time to read a book let alone the Bible. Really? Are you so busy about your Father in Heaven’s affairs? Are you busy with bringing the joy of the Gospel to those who despair? Are you busy touching the lives of those in need? If you are busy with all these then you will have no complaint. For you will be living your life in our Father’s love and in the shelter of His loving embrace.

The light of the world, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has come;to unite Heaven and earth. By His death and resurrection we are given the opportunity to live life to the full and for all eternity with Him. This powerful, wonderful and amazing light in which all darkness dissipates has been offered to each and every one of us. Do we eagerly welcome Him then with open heart, mind and soul? Ever grateful that He wants to minister to us and does so with great tender mercy and love. Or do we choose to live in our familiar darkness which shrouds all that is good within us? As for me and my house we choose to live in His light, even if it means we have to carry our crosses to follow Him.

Lord Jesus if I sing, I sing for You, if I dance, I dance for You. May all that I do bring You glory now and forevermore. Amen

First reading

1 Timothy 3:14-16 ·
The mystery of our religion is very deep

At the moment of writing to you, I am hoping that I may be with you soon; but in case I should be delayed, I wanted you to know how people ought to behave in God’s family – that is, in the Church of the living God, which upholds the truth and keeps it safe. Without any doubt, the mystery of our religion is very deep indeed:

He was made visible in the flesh,
attested by the Spirit,
seen by angels,
proclaimed to the pagans,
believed in by the world,
taken up in glory.

Gospel

Luke 7:31-35
‘We played the pipes, and you wouldn’t dance’

Jesus said to the people:
‘What description can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the market-place:

‘“We played the pipes for you,
and you wouldn’t dance;
we sang dirges,
and you wouldn’t cry.”

‘For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, “He is possessed.” The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, “Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” Yet Wisdom has been proved right by all her children.’