Which Path Will We Choose?

Homily for the Memorial of St. Andrew Kim Tae-gōn and Companions

One of the most important aspects of Christian discipleship is striving to follow the will of God in all that we do. Yet, that isn’t always the easiest thing to accomplish. I think so many of us struggle to hear the voice of the Lord and, because of that, we often walk down the wrong path – the path of sin and wickedness. Unless we are vigilant, unless we continue to strive to put our relationship with God above all else, we won’t be able to reject sin and evil. We will find ourselves constantly stumbling because we can’t resist the strong pull toward sin. This is exactly what our first reading speaks about this morning.

The Book of Proverbs reminds us that the Lord values our actions and obedience to His commandments and teachings more than our sacrifices and offerings. We are all called to obey the will of the Father and dedicate ourselves to living lives of discipleship. We can’t just give the Lord lip service. We can’t simply just say that we are Christians. We have to put that into action. Putting our relationship with Jesus first, doing the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, following the teachings of the Church…all of it is necessary for us to truly be disciples of the Lord.

The Lord made it very clear that we are called to strive to turn away from sin and embrace wholeheartedly the path of righteousness and holiness. Jesus is the example that we are called to follow. He taught us His ways; He showed us all how to live our lives in the right manner; He taught us how to care for one another; He taught us how to put priority on prayer; He taught us how to turn away from temptation. In the end, it is completely up to us whether we want to follow Him or to follow our own path. If we choose to follow Him, our reward will be great and we will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, we will become members of the family of Jesus. If we choose our own path, we best be prepared for the consequences…and I can assure you that those consequences won’t be pleasant.

Which path will we choose today? Will we choose the path that leads to Heaven? Or will we choose to follow our own wills? May God give us all the courage and the strength to choose the right one.

Photo: Jens Lelie on Unsplash. Used under Unsplash license.