“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.” – Luke 14:26
THE VALUE OF THINGS
If
I slapped a friend just for kicks, she’d probably never talk to me
again. If I did the same to my boss, I’d likely be suspended. Still, if I
hit the President, I’d be thrown in jail or shot on site. See the
pattern? Even if the offense is the same, the weight of punishment
follows the rank of the person offended. So what do you think happens
when we offend God?
As the weight of punishment varies according to the person we offend, so should our love and loyalty naturally change
according to the responsibility we have towards people. While my kids
were having a conversation, one of them asked, “Who is more important,
Mommy or God?” My other kid replied, “God, of course, because Mommy wouldn’t be around if it weren’t for God.”
In being called to follow Christ, we are also called to know
the weight and value of our relationships. We are tasked to grow in
knowing each person’s place in our lives. God most certainly should
always be first. It is not, after all, worthy of being called
Christianity if it isn’t Christ-centered. Rod Velez
1ST READING
Paul
tells us that growing in love is the most important thing we can do in
life. He challenges us to compete against one another in the love that
we have for God and others. He teaches us that growth in our love is an
important measure of how well we are doing in our spiritual lives.
Romans 13:8-10
8 Brothers and sisters: Owe nothing to anyone, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 The
commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not kill; you
shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and whatever other commandment
there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely “You shall love your
neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.
P S A L M
Psalm 112:1-2, 4-5, 9
R: Blessed the man who is gracious and lends to those in need.
1 Blessed the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commands. 2 His posterity shall be mighty upon the earth; the upright generation shall be blessed. (R) 4 He dawns through the darkness, a light for the upright; he is gracious and merciful and just. 5 Well for the man who is gracious and lends, who conducts his affairs with justice. (R) 9 Lavishly he gives to the poor; his generosity shall endure forever; his horn shall be exalted in glory. (R)
GOSPEL
Jesus
does not mean that we have to literally hate our parents. What He means
to teach us is that we need to prefer God over everyone else. The most
important relationship we develop in life is with God and this fact
ought to be reflected in the way we make our choices, preferring Him
over all other people.
Luke 14:25-33
25 Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, 26 “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. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 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? 29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him 30 and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ 31 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? 32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 33 In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
REFLECTION
NO WALK IN THE PARK
Let’s
pick up immediately the opening words of today’s Gospel passage for a
few insights. “Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and
addressed them....”
We should be able to picture easily the scene in our minds. Jesus was
like any of today’s celebrities who have a huge fan base. These
“groupies” followed Him literally wherever He went, with Him leading the
way in front. And then now, as though suddenly (in this instance of the
narrative), Jesus turned to His followers. Such a quick change of
movement and position indicates the kind of confrontation Jesus made
with His followers — something which we also need from time to time as
we follow Him. Meaning to say, Jesus will not hesitate to face us
squarely just so we can examine (and purify) our motives and intentions.
And then He drops the bombshell, “If anyone comes to me without hating
his father and mother....”
An occasional “shock treatment” from Jesus can do us good. Ours
shouldn’t be a blind following, the result of a bandwagon effect, based
on the popularity of the one being followed. Jesus does have His
demands, which we read clearly in the Gospel. He minces no words and
sugarcoats no directives. For our part, we’d better think twice and be
sure of our commitment to follow Him.
There is definitely a price we must pay in following Jesus. We must calculate
the cost and face the risk. As we said, it’s a matter of really
following Jesus — which is not at all a walk in the park. Fr. Martin Macasaet, SDB
" Lord, during the times when it’s hard for me to follow You, strengthen me."
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