1st Reading: Wisdom 9:13-18
2nd Reading: Philemon 9-10, 12-17
Gospel: Luke 14:25-33
One of the great saints of our times is St. Thomas More who was convicted of treason, sentenced to death and, on July 6th, 1535, he was beheaded. — On mounting the scaffold, Thomas More proclaimed that he was “the king’s good servant but God’s first.” St. Thomas More paid the price for his discipleship by loving God more than his wife, children, nay, even his life.
Today’s readings invite us to make a total commitment to the will of God, placing God first in our lives.
The first reading instructs us to ask for the gifts of discernment and wisdom from the Holy Spirit, so that we may obey the will of God as disciples.
The second reading teaches us that detachment and renunciation are necessary for a true disciple of Christ. As a responsible Apostle and model disciple of Christ, Paul had to renounce the service of his new helper, Onesimus, and return him to Philemon, his master. As a new disciple of Christ, Onesimus had to leave Paul, whom he had come to love, and return to his owner (with this powerful letter from Paul to his owner, an old friend, pleading for mercy for Onesimus ), and face the ordinary consequences of his theft and flight, — being branded, sold in the slave markets or simply killed.
Today’s Gospel reminds us to count the cost of being a Christian because the cost is high. Christian discipleship requires that one “renounce” both earthly possessions and possessions of the heart (i.e., one’s relationships). In Luke’s Gospel, Jesus lays out four conditions for true Christian discipleship:
i) renouncing the attachment to family by placing God first, before other relationships and self-interest;
ii) severing the attachment to possessions by leading a detached life, willingly sharing our blessings with others;
iii) accepting the hard consequences of discipleship which include offering daily sacrificial service to others and being ready die, rather than to deny Jesus and/or betray the brethren. We must also be faithful in our stewardship, faithful in our worship attendance, faithful in our sexuality, honest in our business practices, and accurate on our tax returns — and we must show compassion for the less fortunate;
iv) calculating the cost involved.
Using the two parables of the tower-builder and the king defending his country, Jesus says that we must think long and hard about Christian discipleship before we commit ourselves to Jesus in this full, life-long surrender.
We must renounce family relationships, giving priority to God. Today’s passage in Luke puzzles a lot of people. Why was Jesus, who had been recommending that his followers love everybody –including their enemies–suddenly announcing that no one could be his disciple unless he hated his own family? The Hebrew language does not have comparatives — it is not possible in Hebrew, for example, to speak of loving something “more” or “less” than another thing. It is only possible to speak of loving or hating. The phrase, “If anyone follows me and does not hate father and mother” should be understood in this way: “If anyone follows me, without preferring me to father and mother….” Besides, the word hate, as used in this case, “is Semitic exaggeration and may reflect an idiom which means ‘love less than’ (Oxford Bible Commentary). So, it is clear that Jesus’ “hating” one’s family is a Semitic hyperbole or exaggeration, spoken for effect. Matthew’s Gospel makes it clear. “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Mt 10:37-38). This is Semitic hyperbole or exaggeration-for-effect. The word “hate,” in Hebrew, does not mean “detest” but to “put in second place”. Jesus is not calling us to hate father and mother but is instead calling us to a commitment above all other commitments, including commitment to family.
We must bear our crosses: Taking up our own cross does not mean seeking out suffering. Jesus did not seek out his cross; he took on himself, in obedience to the Father, what men put on his shoulders, and with his obedient love , he transformed it from an instrument of torture into a sign of redemption and glory. Jesus did not come to make human crosses heavier, but rather to give them meaning. It has been rightly said that “whoever looks for Jesus without the cross will find the cross without Jesus,” that is, he will certainly find the cross but not the strength to carry it. Though “bearing a cross” is often equated with welcoming chronic illness, painful physical conditions, or trying family relationships, it also includes what we do voluntarily, as a consequence of our commitment to Jesus Christ. Further, it is the spirit in which we freely and deliberately accept and endure the pain, the difficulties, and even the ridicule involved with these choices, that transforms them into real cross-bearing. We need to be prepared to suffer out of love for Jesus. We need to accept the challenge with heroic commitment: Jesus’ challenge of true Christian discipleship can be accepted only if we practice the spirit of detachment and renunciation in our daily lives. Real discipleship demands true commitment to the duties entrusted to us by life, circumstances, the community, or directly by God Himself, and by loving acts of selfless, humble, sacrificial love offered to all God’s children around us. Let us remember that all this is possible only if we rely on the power of prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Mother Teresa said, “If we have our Lord amid us, with daily Mass and Holy Communion, I fear nothing for the Sisters nor myself; He will look after us. But without Him I cannot be. I am helpless”