"There has to be more to life"

"There has to be more to life"
 
Today's gospel from Luke 9:18-22 and the following verses give us the most complete instructions on how to follow Jesus and make him the centre of our life. When Jesus asks the apostles what people are saying about him, their answer shows that many people are confused about who he really is. Then Jesus announces that he will suffer and die, and that to live fully, we must lose our life to save it. How can we understand these words? A few days ago, a young man helped me to see the answer. Paul was a promising soccer player and when he finished his university studies here, he went to Australia to try out with a semi-professional football team. He recently returned to Aotearoa, totally disillusioned with the football experience but through it, he discovered the true meaning of life. He played football because he enjoyed it, but there he found that the desire for money dominated everything and caused great rivalries and back-stabbing competitiveness. ''There has to be more to life,'' he thought. He found it by leaving what had become a false, shallow world. He returned to his loving family, found a satisfying job and set about developing the deeper spiritual side of himself through his faith, expressing himself through poetry and music. He is 22 years old and he said that it is so sad that so many young people cannot see any meaning to their life. He has found happiness by letting go of what turned out to be a false attraction. In the words of Jesus, ''he died to himself.'' I am looking forward to our next conversation to see how he can bring his experience and enthusiasm to other young people.
 
Don Hornsey