First, a quick note on the new look of my blog. I haven't really been happy with the background of my blog for a while now. Even though green is my favorite color, I found this template of a road that looks like it's headed someplace pleasant. Isn't that the journey we're all on? So until I get the "itch" to change it again, this is my new format.
The beginning of today's gospel often turns people off. Jesus' call to complete renunciation of everything that gets in the way of discipleship seems extreme. Could it be possible for my "father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters" to get in the way of my following Jesus? And do I really have to reject even my "own life"? Jesus is asking total commitment of us. He isn't looking for us to limit our commitment to celebrating Mass on Sunday and avoiding evil. He expects us to live the Gospel and to announce the Good News to others, and to do this, knowing there will be a great cost.
For some of us, a great resistance might come from our families. However, I suspect the greatest resistance for most of us comes from two other places first: 1) our own hearts and 2) the cultural support group we all have around us. The first place where conversion happens is in our own hearts. Jesus is asking us to let him love us and to let him win over our hearts. We understand the challenge most when we know our own hearts well, when we understand the parts of our own hearts that resist the Gospel, the parts of each of us that need healing and conversion. This is where Jesus encourages us to prepare, to calculate if we have the resources to build what we need to build, to wage the battle we need to wage. Too often it is difficult for me to let go of ideas and strong feelings and habits I've had for many years. Jesus is inviting us to consider carefully what it will take to fully give him our hearts. Imagine someone addicted to drugs who said he wanted to quit, but didn't get rid of his stash or break off ties with his user friends. Imagine a guy wanting to confront his addiction to compulsive sexual liaisons, but doesn't take the step of blocking his access to social networking sites or pornography. I think we would all agree with Jesus: They aren't equipping themselves for what they need to do.
The second place we find a challenge for conversion to discipleship is in our friends and the circle of cultural support around us. Sometimes the society we live in, and the values it espouses, are simply so contrary to the Gospel that it is difficult for us to see it. Is it possible that, in speaking to us today, Jesus might say his challenging words a bit differently?
"If anyone of you comes to me without hating your friends, associates, and any part of the culture around you, and even your own life—insofar as through these you are being shaped by any values contrary to the Gospel—you cannot be my disciple."
In every culture, there are values that conflict with the message of Jesus. Often, Church leaders clearly speak out in defense of the Gospel in a very direct and counter-cultural way. At times, the Gospel of Jesus and the teaching of the Church challenge our political biases, our financial status, and our racial prejudices. Jesus is calling us to complete renunciation of whatever is counter to the Gospel.
We might say, "I can't possibly renounce all my possessions. That would be irresponsible. I have a family. I need a roof over my head. I contribute to society and to my church."
Jesus' challenge becomes a meaningful call to action if we hear how it might apply to us and we reflect upon it more deeply.
“I'm asking you to grow in the freedom it takes to follow me with all your heart. Renounce whatever turns your heart against me, and my Word. Disassociate yourself from habits, stances, positions, parties, identities that are foreign to the spirit of generosity, self-sacrifice and love for others the way I love you. It will involve carrying a cross, but for everything you surrender, I will repay with more than you can ask or imagine.”
If we need more resources for this commitment, we only need to ask for the graces we need. Try an hour in front of the Blessed Sacrament—it works! Jesus will always give us the graces to do what he asks us to do and he will always give us the graces he wants to give us, if we are open to them.
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