Today, the Lord speaks to us in clear-cut terms. Jesus Christ must be loved by the true disciple with all his heart, well over all kind of ties, even the closest ones: Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. (Lk 14:26-27). The strange verse is not telling us to hate our fathers and mothers, but not to give them precedence over the Lord. Here he's not talking about being unloving to anyone nor being unkind to ourselves. Following Christ means being so loving that we hate it when someone or something interferes with that love. In the follower's life, He is always the first one. St. Augustine says: Let us reply to our father and to our mother: ‘I love you in Christ, not instead of Christ’. In following Jesus even our love for life must rank as a second priority. To follow Jesus, after all, entails to embrace the Cross. Without the Cross there is no disciple. A follower must be ready to follow Jesus in the way of the cross, "counting the cost", if he wants to share in his glory and victory.
A disciple must expect opposition and persecution by unbelievers, be ready to be branded a subversive, and perhaps even imprisoned or executed because of his faith. He must let go of his old self and carry not only his own cross but also that which God gives him. He must be unattached to his family, his way of life, his possessions, his needs, pleasure, and comforts, so that he focuses his attention on God alone. Jesus calls us to put God before anything else. Nothing must stand in the way of sharing God's word with others.
Jesus’ challenge of true Christian discipleship can be accepted only if we practice the spirit of detachment and renunciation in our daily lives. Let’s pray for the strength to denounce everything and place Jesus always first in our thoughts and intentions, and in our words and actions."
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