The readings today invite us into a deep reflection on the seriousness of discipleship and the reality of choosing between life in Christ and life enslaved to sin. In Romans, Paul speaks directly to our human condition: our natural tendency to drift toward sin, impurity, and self-service. He reminds us that when we lived in sin, those actions brought no fruit other than shame and ultimately death. But now, through Christ, we are set free—not for neutral living, but to live as servants of righteousness. Sanctification, Paul emphasizes, is not optional for the believer but is the lived expression of belonging to God. This movement away from slavery to sin and toward freedom in Christ highlights the truth that eternal life is not something we can earn, but a gift from God, given through Jesus Christ.
The Responsorial Psalm reinforces this theme of choice. It lays out a stark contrast between those who delight in God’s law and those who ignore it. The one rooted in God is like a tree by running water, steady, fruitful, and flourishing. By contrast, those who walk in wickedness are like chaff—barren, restless, tossed away by the wind. The invitation is clear: to meditate daily on God’s word so that our lives may bear fruit that reflects His presence within us.
The Gospel from Luke gives us a challenging dimension of discipleship. Jesus declares that His coming is not simply to bring a superficial peace but to set the world on fire with God’s love and truth—a fire that purifies, unsettles, and divides. Faith in Him demands such a radical commitment that even the tightest bonds of family may be strained. Choosing Christ may mean conflict at home, misunderstanding, or division with those we love most. Yet Jesus frames this not as destruction, but as the necessary tension that arises when truth encounters resistance. His baptism, which he longs to complete, points to the cross, where love burns most fiercely and transformation begins.
Taken together, these scriptures do not paint a comfortable picture of discipleship. They remind us that to follow Christ is to choose deliberately: life over death, sanctification over sin, rootedness in God’s word over drifting with the winds of the world, radical fidelity to Jesus above all earthly loyalties. This reality may be jarring, but with it comes the promise that living as servants of God leads to freedom, flourishing, and eternal life. As the psalm assures us, blessed indeed are those whose hope is in the Lord.
Jane Stein
I was born and grew up in Omaha. After my husband, Ed (who is a Creighton graduate as well) and I married (at St. John’s on campus) we moved to Arizona to work with the U.S. Public Health Service and lived on the Apache reservation and served the native-American population. We moved to Phoenix 4.5 years later to raise our three children John, Maggie and Michael. We are now blessed to have two beautiful grandchildren, Ernesto and Emelia.
I first served in the Dominican Republic with Institute for Latin American Concern (ILAC) as a 4th-year Pharmacy student while attending Creighton University School of Pharmacy and Health Professions. I then served as a professional volunteer there in 2018 and 2019 and now have the privilege of serving ILAC as Co-Director of Pharmacy since 2021.
I am humbled to have been invited to write for the online ministry. My hope is that I can bring others in closer relationship with God through my reflections. I have been blessed with spiritual mentors and would like to pay it forward.
