TOPIC: CHOOSE JESUS
1. STORY
Three-year-old Mary's uncle asked her to choose a gift on her birthday. He offered her a choice to select one of two
ten-dollar bills. She noticed one was
bigger than the other and was about to select the larger one when she paused
and asked her mother for help. Her
mother told her to select the smaller one which she did. Her mother then explained to her that the
smaller one was a US ten-dollar bill worth much more that the larger one which
was a Hong Kong one. Mary made the right choice.
2. GOSPEL, MATTHEW 10:37-44
A) CHOOSE JESUS
Jesus told his apostles that he was more important than anyone else
including the members of his family. They
must be willing to leave them in order to follow him.
B) WELCOME THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS
Jesus tells us that when a disciple of Jesus is welcomed by anyone, it
is the same as welcoming Jesus himself and one will be rewarded by Jesus for
such a welcome.
3. APPLICATION TO LIFE
A) WHY WE SHOULD CHOOSE JESUS
We should choose Jesus for two reasons:
i) Jesus will remind us that it is our duty to love our parents and
family members. He will remind us of the
importance of the fourth commandment, "Honor your father and your mother."
ii) Jesus will give us the strength to carry out this command. Though we may be burdened with many other
responsibilities such as caring for one’s own family, or working long hours,
Jesus will help as we pray, hear his Word and by receiving the Eucharist.
B) HOW TO WELCOME THE DISCIPLES OF JESUS
We welcome Jesus' disciples in two ways:
i) When we welcome a priest, a nun or a Catholic, we welcome Jesus.
ii)
When we help a needy person, we welcome Jesus. He also tells us that by doing this we will be
rewarded because we are following his example. He will bring us peace, joy and happiness.
4. CONCLUSION
In the story, Mary was able to make the right choice of selecting the US
dollar bill because of her mother's help. Jesus in today's gospel helps us to make the
right choice of selecting him above all others including members of our family.
In doing so we actually love them more
because Jesus reminds us of the importance of honoring our parents and family
and he gives us the strength to do so no matter how many obligations we may
have. We welcome Jesus into our lives by
welcoming his disciples such as priest, nuns, Catholics and the needy. For this we will be rewarded with peace, joy
and happiness. We thank Jesus for his instruction and ask for his help to carry
this out in our lives.
