9/4/10 cblog, JESUS' POINT WAS NOT THAT WE MUST LITERALLY GIVE AWAY EVERYTHING, BUT IT WAS A WAKE-UP CALL, Lady of Lourdes, Oakland, CA "Had a sleepless night..got up & watched TV....surprised so many things being sold..diff shows..then saw an AARP commercial..one thing ask..where sign up..today, listening to gospel today...I'm thinking ..I don't want to sign up..ask where can I return my membership (he's speaking tongue-in-cheek)... first question..Jesus said..anybody who can't give away all possessions can't be my disciple..I have a car..stuff..and he says who will take up cross..do I know what means fully..& then must hate mother father..sorry but I love my parents..so what does Jesus want ? So I Re-read it..previous & future chapters..put into context..before & after, numerous stories, Jesus telling disciples....He was being criticized for opening up the kingdom to so many..after...speaks of Jesus seeking the lost sheep..He wants to wake us up, get our attention...need to put those things into practice..Jesus wanting to give us a wakeup call..listen each of u..put my compassion, kindness, respect..into practice..God is our hope,refuge, stength....He asks us to be alert, wake up, proclaim .."
Wisdom 9:13-18b "Who can know God's counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight
R. (1) In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
And may the gracious care of the LORD our God be ours; prosper the work of our hands for us Prosper the work of our hands! R. In every age, O Lord, you have been our refuge.
PHILEMON 9ff "Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, but I did not want to do anything without your consent so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.
Luke 14:25-33 " Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them,"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say,'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish. Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple"
