In our Gospel today, we hear something that can cause us a bit of consternation – we are told that we must be careful about things that we can be drawn into loving more than God. This statement is very similar to what we hear in John 12:25 where we hear that if we do not hate our very lives, then we will lose them. In each case, the message is that we must put love of Jesus Christ first, and all else should be frankly trivial in comparison.
This can sometimes be a difficult thing to put into practice, even if we understand this intellectually, it can present challenges to be put into practice. Why – you may ask? Well to put it simply, it is difficult to truly love someone with that kind of intensity and priority, when we do not really have a solid connection with them. We see, or perhaps talk with those whom we have close relationships with, such as parents, children, friends, etc. rather frequently, but if we are not doing the same with our Lord, then having even that degree of intimacy is difficult, to say nothing of having the even greater degree that we are called to.
This should illustrate for us the necessity of frequent time spent with our Lord. We can spend time in prayer, and in going to Church, and in reading our bibles, but I am talking about something that can be even greater in closeness and bonding. To truly spend time with our Lord as we would with someone to whom we share the greatest intimacy. To establish time quietly spent seeking His heart and listening for His quiet voice that comes to us through His Spirit to discern His will for each of us. To immerse ourselves and seek His influence and guidance so that it permeates every aspect of the lives that He has given us. This is the call.
Our Lord does not seek to control us, He has given us the precious gift of free will, what He seeks is a desire on our part because of the intimacy, understanding, and trust that we share to draw close to Him. To lose ourselves, our very lives, so that immersed in Him we WANT to live our lives in a manner that reflects His teachings – there is a drastic difference between the two. It is out of love and concern for His children that He seeks to guide us to what is good.
The Deacons Bench 