LIVE IT TODAY: Sunday, September 7, 2025
I call you to follow Me completely—no rival loves, no divided heart.
LIVE IT TODAY: Sunday, September 7, 2025
A GREAT WAY TO BEGIN TODAY!
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GOD'S DECLARATION TO YOU TODAY
I call you to follow Me completely—no rival loves, no divided heart.
INVOCATION
Come, Holy Spirit! Through the intercession of Our Blessed Mother Mary, open my heart to hear and receive all that You desire for me. Draw me ever more deeply into the Love and Life of the Blessed Trinity!
GOSPEL | Luke 14:25-33
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”
EVERY DAY QUESTION
What struck you? Challenged you? Inspired you? What questions did it raise?
GOING DEEPER
No Cheap Discipleship
Jesus’ words are hard. He confronts the “great crowds” following Him—many curious, some half-committed, most not ready for what discipleship truly costs. To “hate” father, mother, wife, children, even our own life? In Greek, the word misein doesn’t mean emotional hostility but radical reordering. Every love must be relativized under the supreme love of God. Compared to Him, even the strongest human bond must take second place.
The parables of the tower and the king sharpen the point. Following Jesus is not an impulse decision; it requires sober reckoning. A tower unfinished or a lost battle both testify to lack of preparation. Likewise, a disciple who begins without surrendering all will falter. Jesus isn’t scaring us off—He’s purifying our motives. He wants followers who know the stakes and choose Him anyway.
This is not just about ancient crowds. It pierces our family life today. Parents, our greatest temptation is to make comfort, success, or even family itself the center. But unless Christ is our first love, we risk building on sand. Only when He is first can our marriages be strong, our parenting fruitful, our homes saint-forming.
Think of the cross He names. The cross is not an accessory—it is an instrument of death. To “carry your cross” meant walking toward execution. Yet it is precisely here that love is revealed: total, self-giving, poured out. The mystery is that in dying to ourselves, we find life in Him.
What if our children saw us take this seriously? What if they heard us say, “Jesus comes before my comfort, before my possessions, before even my opinion of myself”? What if we showed them in daily choices—what we watch, how we spend, how we speak—that He is Lord? This is not about morbid self-denial, but about radiant freedom: living with nothing to cling to but Christ.
Parents, the place to begin is simple yet profound: pray over your children by name. Out loud. Call down the Spirit. Ask that they know Jesus as their first and greatest love. Our homes are meant to be training grounds in costly love—where carrying the cross is not feared but embraced as the road to resurrection.
“Christ’s disciples must deny themselves, take up their cross each day, and follow him. There is no holiness without renunciation and spiritual battle” (CCC 2015).
LIFE APPLICATION QUESTIONS
Counting the Cost: What attachments or comforts might be keeping me from fully following Christ?
Family Priorities: How can I lead my family to place Christ above all else, even the good things we love?
Cross and Freedom: What does carrying my cross look like in the daily realities of my home?
FAMILY LIVE IT
Make some time today to gather together and, going around, each person name one “attachment” they want to surrender more fully to Jesus.
Then pray over each person by name:
“Lord Jesus, You alone are our greatest love. Free [Name] from every false attachment and every lie of the Enemy. Give them courage to carry their cross with joy. Pour out Your Spirit upon them to live in freedom, to love our family rightly, and to follow You with an undivided heart.”
DAILY PARENT & GRANDPARENT BLESSING
LORD JESUS CHRIST, let Your holy anointing be upon each of our children, grandchildren, and godchildren this day and week, including all to whom they are called in vocation, and all future generations! In Your Sacred Name we claim them for You! We renounce all whispers, lies, and influences of the Enemy! We pray right now that each know Your loving Presence, be forged in virtue, and be flooded with an abundance of Your Holy Spirit to live fully their identity and mission in You now and through all eternity, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother! Amen.
PARENT BLESSING PROJECT: bit.ly/ParentBlessing
GOING VERTICAL
“Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10
Just as the vertical beam upholds the horizontal beam of the Cross, so too does undistracted, dedicated daily turning to God as our lifeblood uphold and strengthen every part of life. Start with just three minutes. Wait patiently for the breakthrough beyond the noise. Let Him speak.
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