Ordinary Time: Monday, June 26, 2006

Sorry this is late and short. I'm fighting off the invasion of the ants at the parsonage today! And they will be defeated!

Gospel Lesson

Matthew 19:13-22
We see a contrast in this two encounters with Jesus. We see the children coming and you see the disciples saying, we don't need these kids hanging around, and they try to get rid of them. Then we see the rich young ruler come. Now, this is the kind of guy you'd want hanging around. After all, he's rich! Imagine how much he could the ministry. The kids, we could do without, they might make a mess that we've got to clean up. But, we could use the rich guy!

And we see Jesus' response. He welcomes the children. He blesses them. He says that if we want to enter the kingdom of heaven, we must come as they did.

And the rich young ruler; he doesn't drive him away, but He does say that if we wants to follow, he must sell it all and follow Jesus alone.

Today, who do we aspire to be like? Do we want to be like those children welcomed by our savior? Or do we want to be like the rich man that walked sadly away. Friends, we have a choice. We can be like Jesus, or we can be like the world. There is no in between. We can be like one or the other. Today, which will we be?