GOSPEL: Luke 14:25-33
Great crowds accompanied him on his way and he turned and spoke to them. 'Anyone who comes to me without hating father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, cannot be my disciple. No one who does not carry his cross and come after me can 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, anyone who saw it would start making fun of him and saying, "Here is someone 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 was advancing 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 without giving up all that he owns.

​REFLECTION
The Gospel for this week can be a difficult one to understand. Jesus once again was on the road with his disciples and great crowds were following him. At one point, Jesus turned to the crowds and addressed them. He said: “If anyone comes to me who does not hate his father and mother, wife, children, brothers and sisters, and even his or her own life, he or she cannot be my disciple.” Jesus then adds: “Whoever does not carry his or her cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”

These are extremely strong words! Did Jesus truly mean that we are to hate our parents, brothers, sisters, children and friends? Or is Jesus telling us that if we choose to follow him we need to realize that Jesus needs to be first in our lives? Jesus is making a very clear and strong point. Our primary allegiance always needs to be to Jesus. Jesus is not saying that we cannot or should not love and care for our families and our friends. He realizes that we have committed ourselves to our families and we need to live out that commitment.

Rather, Jesus is telling his listeners what is essential. First and foremost, Jesus must be first in our lives. However, Jesus also wants us to love and care deeply for our family, our friends and for the world community. Today may we strive to love each person we encounter: the person we pass in the grocery store, a co-worker who is struggling, or an individual we simply do not like. The quality of love that Jesus hopes we will have for one another surpasses the simple notion of liking another person. Rather, Jesus hopes that we truly will love every person in our world. This may sound impossible. However, with Jesus’ grace and love, we have the ability to do this. Will we choose to do this? (Sr Kristine Anne Harpenau)

​​God Bless,
Warren Ziebowski
Religious Education Coordinator