XXIII SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - Luke 14:25-33
We may ask ourselves: What do we need to be Jesus’ disciples? We may be in for a big surprise if we think that it is an easy thing to achieve. In fact, in this Sunday’s gospel, Jesus puts forward some radical demands for all those who want to be his disciples.
To help us understand his demands, Jesus presents examples of two undertakings: to build a tower and to go to war. For someone to build a tower, he has to make a plan and then have enough money to complete the project. Otherwise, the project will be no more than something I dream about. The one who starts and doesn’t finish will become the laughing stock of the village. It is pointless to dream of becoming Jesus’ disciple if I am not prepared to make the needed sacrifices to be a true disciple.
About the war, Jesus uses common sense in the piece of advice that he gives. To go to war, one must prepare and plan. In case one sees that it is impossible to win the war, then it is better to negotiate and look for peace. It is senseless, as we see in the war in Ukraine, to go on fighting and sending ill-prepared soldiers to the front just to be killed. It is very hard to understand how the so-called West incites the Ukrainians to go on fighting, thus leading to the destruction of a nation, instead of facilitating negotiations and looking for possible ways of peace. They speak and act in the name of “our common values”, and we remain in the dark about those values. Better to negotiate for peace - that is Jesus’ advice.
As for becoming Jesus’ disciples, we must come to terms with God. There is no way we can fight him. We must have the common sense of following the path of reconciliation. And this reconciliation is done in Jesus Christ.
And addressing his disciples, Jesus told 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.”
We may be surprised by the word hate, which represents a typical Semitic hyperbole and means to love less. In another passage, Jesus speaks of the respect due to the parents (Mk 7:10) and he reminds his audience that such respect is one of the commandments of God. However, the parents, the brothers and sisters, the children, the wife or the husband can’t be an obstacle to becoming Jesus’ disciples. For the true disciple, Jesus has the first place in his heart and his life. The true disciple must be ready to lose his life for Jesus. He must be ready to carry the cross like Jesus.
May the Lord give us the resolve to leave everything behind us to follow Jesus.
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