8th September : Sunday Gospel Reflection The 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
Please read Br Michael’s reflection for Sunday September 8th
The demands of being a follower of Jesus today
It’s not very often that we hear Jesus speaking about people hating each other! Normally he asks us to love each other as he loves us, but this clearly not the case in today’s gospel. He bluntly tells the crowd (and us) who have gathered to hear him,
‘If any one comes to me without hating his own father, mother, wife and children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life, they cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry their own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.’
These are very hard-hitting and challenging demands from Jesus. So, let’s get this clear, if I want to follow Jesus as his disciple, I have to hate my family and friends and then take up my cross in order to do so. These are not exactly warm and encouraging words of support from Jesus. What could he possibly mean by saying this to us today?
I think it’s safe to say that Jesus is exaggerating things to make a point. Following Jesus wasn’t it easy when he was alive and it’s not easy today either. When Jesus invited and asked people to follow him, he was asking them to do something very dangerous and radical. He was asking them not to just to follow a new set of rules, but to follow a totally new way of life based on the new Kingdom of God that he was proclaiming. This meant giving up an old way of life and embracing a new one. It may have meant giving up one set of beliefs and values in order to follow new ones. This would not have been easy. Not every one who heard Jesus followed him; many rejected and dismissed him.
‘Come, take up your cross and follow me.’
Perhaps some in the same family would have disagreed and fallen out with each other about whether or not to follow this itinerant preacher and his new message. Perhaps families even spilt and separated over following Jesus. He simply invited people to follow him with the words, ‘Come, take up your cross and follow me.’ Jesus never forced people to follow him. He invited them and then let them make up their own minds. When the Rich Young Man walked away from Jesus, he didn’t run after him and beg him to follow him; he simply let him go.
Today, Jesus treats each of the very same way. He looks at each of us, loves us and simply says, ‘I call you by your name, come, take up your cross and follow me.’ It’s up to each of us whether or not we accept this invitation and follow Him. Let us not be under any illusion, if we do accept his invitation, there are consequences. Following Jesus is not easy. It’s still a very dangerous and radical thing to do. To call ourselves ‘Christian’ is far more than a badge or comfortable label. It means that we actually follow Jesus and live a life that he was willing to die for. It means that we are willing to live our daily lives by following the values the Kingdom of God.
When I hear Jesus calling my name and asking me to follow him as his disciple, what is my reaction and more importantly, what is my own personal response?
In the end, what Jesus demands is a wholehearted, complete commitment without distraction – and that’s no exaggeration!
-Br Michael Moore OMI
Sunday September 8th Gospel: Luke 14:25-33 ©
Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple
Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them. ‘If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple. Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. ‘And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it?
Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, “Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish.” Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.’
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