How much of the world's nonsense did you buy this year for Christmas?

Today’s Gospel Reading: Luke 14:25-35 - At that time, great multitudes accompanied Jesus; and he turned and said to them, "If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me, cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build, and was not able to finish.' Or what king, going to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an embassy and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltness be restored? It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill; men throw it away. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Today is the fourth day of Christmas. Have you chosen to follow Christ or are you still a slave to the worldly things? Did you attend Liturgy for Christmas, or was your Christmas merely a celebration of gift-giving and family feasting around a decorated tree. Were you so “tired of Christmas” by the time December 25^th FINALLY arrived that you were glad to wake up on December 26^th so you could start packing up your decorations for next year? The world has much to say about how we “should” behave as citizens, but much of it is nonsense and should be ignored.

Your willingness to ignore the worldly advice is the essence of today’s Gospel reading. When Christ says, “If any one comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life...” He is speaking about your willingness to ignore the secular advice the world was trying to sell you during the holidays. How much of the world’s nonsense did you buy this year?