Jesus begins his journey to Jerusalem. With the church, you, too, are on the road with Jesus. Consider how your life has been a pilgrimage - where it's been, is now, and is going.

Catholic bishops have recently called on local Christians to develop a culture of discernment, one in which people take seriously their calling and make efforts to nurture that call in their life choices.

Jesus exposes false declarations of discipleship for what they are and rejects them all. Authentic followers don't look back. They turn forward. We can only head into kingdom territory if we first abandon our allegiance to other, smaller goals.

Wine to Water is dedicated to achieving sustainability by training people to install, maintain, and repair their own water systems. To date, Hendley's group has brought safe drinking water to well over 25,000 individuals in refugee camps, orphanages, schools, hospitals, and even a leper colony.

Each of us is called. Few hear that call like the voice of God calling in the night. Usually, we discover our call, like Elisha, while doing other things. For most of us our call comes as a persistent, inner prompting that can be easily drowned out by the lure of money, power, security, or fame. But we won't be happy until we hear and respond to our innermost call.

Remember Rodney King, the terrible riots in L.A., and his now-famous plea "Can't we all just get along?"

Jesus' hard sayings show that there is no such thing as a part-time Christian. We all need to pay the cost of discipleship. What might you need to forego to jump into the Kingdom with both feet?

We turn to God who forgives our sins.

In addition to the examples in today's readings, the act of being called in the midst of one's tasks occurs several times in scripture.

God is dangerous. God is a devouring fire. God has cast his eyes on you. . . . Take care, he is crafty, he begins with a little love, a small flame, and before you can realize it for what it is, he catches hold of you and you are taken. - Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988)