When a person declares that they want to follow Jesus and to believe, he or she can’t at the same time only partially accept Jesus’ teaching. I have heard arguments like -- I do believe in God, but I am not sure that Jesus was His Son. Or, I do believe, but I can’t forgive that person who hurt me. Or, I believe in God, but I don’t need the church, nor all those sacraments, all those regulations. Jesus’ disciples can’t follow only those commandments that are easy to fulfill; they must fulfill those that are also difficult or hard to understand or to avoid. Jesus’ disciple can’t follow the Lord only partially. No, you either follow Jesus completely or you don’t follow Him at all; there is no middle way, no ‘in between’. Jesus said today in the Gospel: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.”
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