{"id":1445,"date":"2013-05-28T09:38:55","date_gmt":"2013-05-28T16:38:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/?p=1445"},"modified":"2015-03-12T16:50:12","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T23:50:12","slug":"what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube<\/a>. Today is no exception:<\/p>\n

<\/embed><\/object><\/p>\n

To follow Jesus means to follow His path, not for power but by our witness and service. This was the focus of Pope Francis\u2019 homily at morning Mass. Reflecting on the Gospel of the day, the Pope said that we should not follow Jesus because it is a question of culture: \u201cI am a Christian, I have this culture\u201d, but out of our necessity to be true disciples of Jesus, our need to follow His path. He said if we follow Jesus in a cultural context it is because we think it is a career path, a route to power. Pope Francis noted that \u201cthe history of the Church is full of this, starting with some emperors, many rulers and many people\u201d\u2026 Pope Francis\u2019 homily, 5\/28\/13<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Pope Francis challenges us today with his reflection on the words of the Gospel in Mark\u2019s 10th chapter<\/a>. Jesus reminds his followers that those who \u201cgive up\u201d things to follow him will be repaid 100 fold. I find myself asking what \u2014 if anything<\/em> \u2014 I \u201cgive up<\/strong>\u201d to choose life as a Christian, a Catholic follower of Christ.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019m being honest, I can\u2019t think of much at first glance. But when I stretch myself, I realize that therein lies my problem<\/strong> \u2013 am I one of those \u201ccultural Christians\u201d Pope Francis describes in his homily? Perhaps in too many ways the answer is yes<\/strong><\/em>. Perhaps I\u2019ve bought into the \u201cprosperity gospel\u201d that has taught me that being a Christian doesn\u2019t mean having to suffer or give up.<\/p>\n

But if I\u2019m being honest with myself, it\u2019s perhaps all too true that I live my faith well within my comfort zone. I can think of at least three times over the past three days that my \u201cwitness\u201d was compromised in situations where I didn\u2019t want to \u201crock the boat\u201d or offend. Did I \u201cthrow Jesus under the bus?\u201d<\/strong><\/em> Not exactly, but I definitely held back on the truth as I know it so as not to offend the company I was with. Is being \u201cpolitically correct\u201d akin to Pope Francis\u2019 charge of being a \u201ccultural Christian\u201d?<\/p>\n

Where along my path did I lose my \u201cneed\u201d<\/strong> (as Pope Francis called it) \u2014 my\u00a0fervent, all holds barred desire<\/strong><\/em> \u2014 to stand up and witness and to be a true Christian? More than likely, my way is lost in baby steps along the crazily hectic path of day-to-day life. Small compromises, moments \u201clet go<\/em>\u201d rather than engaged, opportunities to help someone in need squandered because they weren\u2019t on my oh-so-orderly \u201cto do\u201d list.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve heard my marching orders this morning from our Holy Father, and indeed from the source itself in Mark\u2019s gospel. Hopefully I\u2019m equipped and motivated to answer that \u201cWhat have I given up to follow Jesus?\u201d<\/strong><\/em> question a bit differently next time.<\/p>\n

A question for you:<\/strong> What \u2014 if anything \u2014 have you given up to follow Jesus?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path, not for power but by our witness and service. This was the focus of Pope Francis\u2019 homily at morning Mass. Reflecting on the Gospel of the day, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[978,93,236],"class_list":["post-1445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-new-evangelization","tag-pontifex","tag-gospel-reflections","tag-pope-francis"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I'm sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I'm sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lisa Hendey\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-05-28T16:38:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2015-03-12T23:50:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/files\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-28-at-9.28.43-AM-248x300.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lisa M. Hendey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lisa M. Hendey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/\",\"name\":\"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-05-28T16:38:55+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-12T23:50:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#\/schema\/person\/2686d91a14b8ef236e1ed062f9758b70\"},\"description\":\"I'm sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/\",\"name\":\"Lisa Hendey\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#\/schema\/person\/2686d91a14b8ef236e1ed062f9758b70\",\"name\":\"Lisa M. Hendey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0732a10e73365e440d4394f24b2e84c?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0732a10e73365e440d4394f24b2e84c?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Lisa M. Hendey\"},\"description\":\"Lisa Hendey is the founder and webmaster of CatholicMom.com and the author of The Grace of Yes,\u00a0A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms\u00a0and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa writes for several online and print publications, enjoys speaking around the country and is a frequent television and radio guest and host. Visit her at\u00a0LisaHendey.com and connect with her at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/author\/lisahendey\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?","description":"I'm sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?","og_description":"I'm sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/","og_site_name":"Lisa Hendey","article_published_time":"2013-05-28T16:38:55+00:00","article_modified_time":"2015-03-12T23:50:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.patheos.com.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/files\/2013\/05\/Screen-Shot-2013-05-28-at-9.28.43-AM-248x300.png"}],"author":"Lisa M. Hendey","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lisa M. Hendey","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/","name":"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-05-28T16:38:55+00:00","dateModified":"2015-03-12T23:50:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#\/schema\/person\/2686d91a14b8ef236e1ed062f9758b70"},"description":"I'm sort of in love with the daily opportunity to watch Pope Francis preach via Youtube. Today is no exception: To follow Jesus means to follow His path,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/2013\/05\/what-have-i-given-up-to-follow-jesus\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Have I Given Up to Follow Jesus?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/","name":"Lisa Hendey","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#\/schema\/person\/2686d91a14b8ef236e1ed062f9758b70","name":"Lisa M. Hendey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0732a10e73365e440d4394f24b2e84c?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e0732a10e73365e440d4394f24b2e84c?s=96&r=g","caption":"Lisa M. Hendey"},"description":"Lisa Hendey is the founder and webmaster of CatholicMom.com and the author of The Grace of Yes,\u00a0A Book of Saints for Catholic Moms\u00a0and The Handbook for Catholic Moms. Lisa writes for several online and print publications, enjoys speaking around the country and is a frequent television and radio guest and host. Visit her at\u00a0LisaHendey.com and connect with her at Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or Instagram.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/author\/lisahendey\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/lisahendey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}