“Making a choice – remembering that it’s only the Divine that can sustain us!”

(Based on 2 Kgs 19:9b-11, 14-21, 31-35a, 36 and Mt 7:6, 12-14 – Tuesday of the 12th Week in Ordinary Time, Year 2)

A man once came to a crossroad, which had a church on one side, and a golf-park on the other.

At the crossroad was an interesting sign board.

It read…
MAKE A CHOICE!
Would you – like Lot – look at the greenery and be attracted to spend time there?
… or would you, like Abraham, be ready to walk in, to have an encounter with the Divine?

The greens may attract you…allure you… and entertain you
… but remember, its only the Divine that can sustain you!

Life indeed attracts us with many things that can allure and entertain us

But Christian Life demands that we make a choice – for God and His Virtues
… a choice to enter by the “narrow gate”

Jesus says, “Enter by the narrow gate… for the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few” (Mt 7: 13-14)

The Sermon on the Mount continues with Jesus presenting the wonderful message of the Kingdom of God and its radical requirements.

One of the key aspects in the Sermon on the Mount is the demand made on the part of the disciple to “make a choice”
• One has to radically “make a choice” for the Kingdom of God.
• One has to stay committed to this “choice” that is taken and live it to the fullness.

It is this “choice” that will determine whether our entry to eternity…
… eternal condemnation – is through the “wide gate” or
… eternal life – is through the “narrow gate”.

Jesus says that it is easy to pass through the wide gate…
• All those who choose not to live in accordance to the Gospel values
• All those who are content to make life “merry” and just “live life to the max”
• All those who fail to respond to God’s Grace and deny having a life in Him

But this will lead to doom and condemnation!

To pass through the narrow gate is hard…
• All those who make a choice to live according to the teachings of the Lord
• All those who boldly seek to proclaim the Kingdom by their faithful and holy lives
• All those who constantly hold on to the Lord despite hardships and difficulties in life

But this will lead to joy and eternal life!

As we stand at the crossroads of our life, let’s make a choice, remembering…
… The “greens of worldly pleasures” may attract us …allure us… and entertain us
But, it’s only the Divine that can sustain us!

MAKE A CHOICE!

God Bless! Live Jesus!

---

📖 Discovering the beauty of the Catholic Church through the Catechism
CHRISTIAN INITIATION

From the time of the apostles, becoming a Christian has been accomplished by a journey and initiation in several stages.
This journey can be covered rapidly or slowly, but certain essential elements will always have to be present: proclamation of the Word, acceptance of the Gospel entailing conversion, profession of faith, Baptism itself, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and admission to Eucharistic communion.
This initiation has varied greatly through the centuries according to circumstances.
In the first centuries of the Church, Christian initiation saw considerable development.
A long period of catechumenate included a series of preparatory rites, which were liturgical landmarks along the path of catechumenal preparation and culminated in the celebration of the sacraments of Christian initiation.
Where infant Baptism has become the form in which this sacrament is usually celebrated, it has become a single act encapsulating the preparatory stages of Christian initiation in a very abridged way. >> By its very nature infant Baptism requires a post-baptismal catechumenate.
Not only is there a need for instruction after Baptism, but also for the necessary flowering of baptismal grace in personal growth.
The catechism has its proper place here.
The second Vatican Council restored for the Latin Church “the catechumenate for adults, comprising several distinct steps.”
The rites for these stages are to be found in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA).
The Council also gives permission that: “In mission countries, in addition to what is furnished by the Christian tradition, those elements of initiation rites may be admitted which are already in use among some peoples insofar as they can be adapted to the Christian ritual.”
Today in all the rites, Latin and Eastern, the Christian initiation of adults begins with their entry into the catechumenate and reaches its culmination in a single celebration of the three sacraments of initiation: Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist.

In the Eastern rites the Christian initiation of infants also begins with Baptism followed immediately by Confirmation and the Eucharist, while in the Roman rite it is followed by years of catechesis before being completed later by Confirmation and the Eucharist, the summit of their Christian initiation. (CCC # 1229-1233)