26th Wednesday in Ordinary Time - Year A

Hi, this is Father Nick Smith, pastor of St. Patrick's in Perry.

Every vocation is a call of God to holiness, but at the same time, it is intensely personal.

Jesus has a particular call for each and every one of us, a way that he wants each and every one of us to follow him more closely.

We see a few of those different encounters that he has with individual men in today's gospel.

These men come and ask to follow Jesus.

but he tells each and every one of them in a little bit different way that they must consider what they are about to give up in order to follow him more closely.

The Lord does not want half-hearted disciples, but he wants those who have really considered what he is asking them to do, to follow him with their whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, and what that will indeed cost them so they're not surprised later.

It is true that the Lord continues to call individuals to follow Him more closely at His side.

In the midst of the church, that means often the priesthood or a consecrated vocation in religious life.

But even married people and families must also consider the cost of following the Lord more closely.

Sometimes this means giving certain things up so that we can focus on our relationship with God.

For example, making sure that we can go to Mass as a family every single week.

Sometimes it means that certain friendships or hobbies may have to be left to the side or different ones taken up because of our relationship with the Lord.

So let us consider too what the Lord is calling us to do.

We walk with Him day by day and it's often a process of discernment.

The Lord never abandons those whom He has called to follow Him.

He always gives us the spiritual resources necessary to follow Him more closely as His disciples.

So let us never be discouraged.

Let us never give up hope.

Let us always place our faith in the Lord that he will always take care of his disciples.