November 7, 2023 –
Tuesday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time

Luke 14:15-24

… He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.

Through Jesus on Calvary we see that the capacity for self-sacrifice measures the authenticity of a Christian’s life.  Are you and I authentic Christians?  This is just another way of asking:  what do we sacrifice in our lives?  Of course, the world around us encourages us to sacrifice nothing.  The world that surrounds us encourages just the opposite:  that we glorify and gratify our very selves.  By contrast, Jesus asks the one who wants to follow Him to reach inside himself and to sacrifice his very self.

When we do turn inwards, and look inside ourselves, what do we find there?  There are many things inside ourselves that we might offer up to God:  resentments, vain hopes, desires for material goods, to name just a few.

But listen again to what Saint Paul proclaims about the example of sacrifice given by our Savior, who “emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming in human likeness; … He humbled Himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  Jesus offered His very self:  not only what He was truly attached to and desirous of, but His entire being, from the inside out:  His Body and Blood, soul and divinity.