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TODAY’S WORD…

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Jesus said,

“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple

if you do not give up all your possessions.”

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– Luke 14:33 (NRSV)

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REFLECTION…

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An effective detachment from everything we have and are

is necessary if we are to follow Jesus,

if we are to open our hearts to Our Lord who is passing by and calls out to us.

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On the other hand, attachment to earthly things

closes our doors to Christ and closes the doors to love

and to any possibility of understanding what is most essential in our lives.

“So therefore, none of you can become my disciple

if you do not give up all your possessions.”

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Whatever our possessions, we must thank God for them

but we must not allow ourselves to become obsessed by them or by adding to them.

Detachment from our possessions does not mean carelessness,

because we can even do good by means of them;

detachment from our possessions means not becoming fixated in them and enslaved by them.

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Love for riches and possessions leaves no room for love of God;

it is not possible for God to dwell

in a heart which is filled with a different kind of love from His.

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If I struggle effectively to live detached from the things I have and use,

my heart will be clean, wide open and welcoming,

with lots of space for Jesus to live within me.

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REPETITIVE PRAYER FOR TODAY…

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Come, Lord Jesus, come. Come into my heart!

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[*] Today’s reflection is sourced from the seven-volume work “In Conversation with God” by Padre Francisco Fernández Carvajal.