Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time – Cycle C
Reflecting on Luke 14: 25-33
What charisma did Jesus possess that he was able to draw The Twelve, as well as many dozens of unnamed disciples, into mission with him? I imagine him as this young, warm, kind rabbi, whose very presence compelled James and John to drop their nets (and thus to evaporate the family business) and follow him.
But at what cost! They would have to love their families “less”—the proper translation of “hate” — than they loved him. They would have to love their own lives less than they loved him! They would have to be willing to “take up the cross”— surely the most dreaded image for anyone living in an occupied country–and follow him.
What kind of recruitment poster is that? Leave your families and vital love them less than you love this highly controversial man whose promises are sacrifice, privation, death, and eternal life? Apparently, those who chose a life of hardship with him did it with great joy. They were utterly devoted to him.
It’s good to be cautious when you make a commitment, of course. You need to make a list of pros and cons. You need to determine whether you can succeed before taking on a new project or job. But the cost of this discipleship? To be a faithful follower of Jesus, you must renounce all your possessions!
What an impossible call this is. The Catholic tradition reserves this particular sacrifice for those who embrace poverty in Religious life. But all of us are called to love Jesus more than possessions, family, or even our own lives.
Do I do this? The answer is: sometimes. And those times have brought me my greatest joys.
When have you found deep joy in following Jesus?
Kathy McGovern ©2025