The young man in the gospel today was downcast when the Lord told him that he must go and sell all that he had to follow Jesus as a true disciple. Some of us recognize the difficulty of what Jesus was saying in this particular instance. But let's assume for a moment you are one of those who could say easily, "Oh yes, Lord, I'll do it." Perhaps Jesus has a harder question for you--for example, are you willing to "let the dead bury the dead?" or "to set hand to plow and never look back?" or "to leave mother, father, sister, and brothers" and find them in the Christian communion?
Many of us pay lip service to these ideals, or perhaps conveniently shove them out of the way of the mind's eye. But spend a few moments today and think about the things Jesus could ask of you that would make you as downcast as the young man in the gospels. Then, when you've identified the problem areas, you have the beginnings of understanding, you can move more toward God in all these issues.
A nurse-midwife friend of mine had this epiphanic moment when she attended a Humanae Vitae conference. She realized that she could no longer prescribe contraception (she herself did not use it, but would prescribe it as required in the line of her employment, even though she would advise chastity to the unmarried and NFP to the wed). Anyhow, it meant that she became unemployable, ended up packing up her husband and 8 children and relocating back to her home town, selling their house at a loss, and she is now fighting the very difficult fight to start a private practice. She could not even get hired at the 'catholic' agencies in her town - the other midwives were prescribing and did not want her there as a prick to their consciences is my guess.