"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)

Lk 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 foundationand finding himself unable to finish the workthe 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 downand decide whether with ten thousand troopshe can successfully oppose another kingadvancing 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, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."

In our spiritual life, as in our material life, planning based on prudence is important. Jesus talks about this today in the Gospel, referring to two examples taken from life. The conclusion is that anyone who does not renounce everything cannot be His disciple. Everything, that is, people, things, situations that can distance us from God and increase our distance from Him. Or maybe it would be better to say that these things or people burden our hearts so much that it is difficult to follow Jesus and keep up with His steps. God does not march as a soldier, nor does he run ahead of us like a marathon runner or sprinter. He moves at the rhythm of our lives, he does not push us, he does not want to tire us, but we ourselves must make every effort not to slow down, not to stop our spiritual following of Jesus, and not to slip on the path to eternity. This may happen when we overwhelm our hearts with the burden of attachment to another person, greed for money or other material goods, or lustful desires based on sensuality. The consequence of this will be distancing oneself from God and spiritual matters, spiritual weakening and abandoning the relationship with the Lord in favor of someone or something else. That is why it is so important to plan, to reflect on life, what is happening inside me, to constantly ask where I am in life and where God is in my life. Because so many people, so many things, want to distract us from this most important relationship. My Christian life cannot be deprived of this sense of reflection, because if I lack it, spiritual discipline will quickly end and instead of God, something else will enter my heart and take possession of it. Therefore, I must relate everything and everyone in my life to God as to the greatest good and adapt all relationships to this one relationship with Him, and not Him to my other relationships. If I see that God is starting to fade in my life, it means that I am moving away from my salvation, it means that I am losing God, I am cutting myself off from the true source of peace, love and happiness. To prevent this from happening and to prevent my spiritual growth from being stopped, I must cut myself off from anything that obscures God from me, even if it is something good and useful. Such things, which are good and positive, and may seem harmless from a human perspective, can sometimes focus all my attention, including the spiritual one, on myself and thus take away my time and strength that I could devote to God. Hence, Jesus gives practical advice to cut yourself off from everything, renounce it, leave it in the background, and thus always have His presence and grace within you. Renunciation does not mean going to your mom or dad and telling them: I don't love you anymore, I don't want to have anything more to do with you. This attitude would kill love, which is also important and necessary in life. The point is that no person, even the closest one, will block my relationship with God, so that I can be constantly convinced that the relationship with my Lord is the most important thing in life. Whether it is so depends on how I look at my spiritual life and whether I am prudent in it, not allowing Jesus to be pushed out of my heart.

Father Marcin Cwierz, OSPPE

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"Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience," (Col 3:12)