“Today’s gospel is about the vocation of discipleship of Jesus, a vocation to which we all lay claim,” writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald. “Jesus himself spells out the cost of walking in his footsteps. It means letting go of possessiveness, walking beside others as our sisters and brothers, loving them for themselves and for who they are as the beloved of God, and not for ourselves or for what they can give us. That involves nothing less than taking up the Cross, and doing it day after day.”

The metaphor of the narrow door used by Jesus in today’s gospel reading is not about the reduced dimensions of a door but about the clutter we can gather to ourselves, our unused gifts that we refuse to share with those around us, and our slowness to expand the love in our hearts to include those we don’t like and those who have offended us. It is these that are the obstacles that slow our progress on our life-long journey of growing into God, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

The way in which Jesus lived his life does not allow us to treat him with indifference. His outspokenness attracted hostility. The same hostility and division await anyone who chooses to walk in his footsteps, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

If we dare to let ourselves feel just how uplifting it is to know that we are trusted by God, then we might find ourselves able to trust God in return, writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.

This week’s readings, challenge me to ask myself questions like: “Am I rich enough? Do I give generous expression to the creativity with which I have been entrusted? How do I share myself as God’s work of art?” , writes Christian Brother Julian McDonald.