ARE YOU SAVING YOUR SOUL?
John 21:20-25
Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one
who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said,
“Master, who is the one who will betray you?” When Peter saw him, he
said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I
want him to remain until I come? “What concern is it of yours? You
follow me.” So the word spread among the brothers that that disciple
would not die. But Jesus had not told him that he would not die, just
“What if I want him to remain until I come? What concern is it of
yours?”
It is this disciple who testifies to these things and has written them,
and we know that his testimony is true.” There are also many other
things that Jesus did, but if these were to be described individually, I
do not think the whole world would contain the books that would be
written.
Jewel, “Who Will Save Your Soul”
“Another doctor’s bill, another lawyer’s bill, another cute cheap thrill. You know you love him if
you put him in your will. Who will save your soul; who will save your soul after all the lies that you
told. Who will save your soul if you won’t save your own? We call religion our friend. We’re so
worried about saving our souls, afraid that God will take His toll that we forget to begin. There are
addictions to feed and there are mouths to pay, so you bargain with the devil, say you’re okay for
today.”
+ If we leave out the denial of self, what happens?
– the chances are that even as we take up the cross and follow Jesus’ thoughts, we will do it in a
selfish way
+ What happens if we leave out “taking up the cross”?
– chances are here, that even though we admit our selfishness and try to follow Jesus’ ways
– we will not face the crosses that are part of this world, the pain and suffering which are always
present in one form or another
“Apollo 13”
-when everything was going wrong, the Director of Operations, Gene Krantz said, we have to
“work the problem”
– he took everything that the trapped astronauts had in their capsule, through them on a table for his
engineers, and said those words—work the problem, figure out from what you have exactly what
they have to do
+ And, what if we leave the third part of Jesus’ following: namely, following Jesus’ steps?
– well, here, we have denied ourselves, and we have taken up the crosses of every-day living
– but we don’t have a guide—namely, Jesus and consequently Francis
What should I do the rest of this year to improve my life as a Franciscan disciple?
