So last week the gist of Jesus’s message was
a disciple’s need to have humility. Perhaps
that wasn’t very shocking. Today, on the
Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Jesus, in His sermon on the pilgrimage to
Jerusalem, stuns the journeying crowd: you must hate mother, father, family,
and everything to follow Him. We know
this is hyperbole, but I suspect it’s because the great crowds following and
probably pressing up against Him that causes Him to reach for a sensational metaphor.
Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his
father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own
life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross
and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a
tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough
for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the
foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should
laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to
build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle
would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully
oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he
will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way, anyone of you who
does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
~Lk 14:25-33
I hadn’t found a homily
from Fr. Terrance Chartier of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate in quite
a while. He’s one of my favorite
homilists. He doesn’t disappoint.
I love the way Fr. Terrance links Jesus’s hyperbole to Old Testament examples, showing the continuity between Old and New. But of even more importance I think is Fr. Terrance’s pointing out that you can’t really love your family as you should until you have prioritized love for God first. Jesus is the source. One flows to the other. Praise be Jesus, and don’t forget our Blessed Mother’s birthday tomorrow.
Jeff Cavins provides
a solid pastoral homily on this difficult passage.
No, don’t hate mom
and dad. But you need to count the cost
of discipleship. That is why Jesus
provides the builder and war general illustrations.
Sunday Meditation: “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.”
I absolutely love this Christian hymn, “All
for Jesus.” I don’t know who sings it,
but it’s lovely.
Let my hands perform His bidding,
Let my feet run in His ways;
Let my eyes see Jesus only,
Let my lips speak forth His praise.
