31st Week of Ordinary Time - Wednesday - Discipleship: Everything to lose, everything to gain

Three times in the Gospel this morning Jesus lays down the conditions for discipleship.  Strikingly, Jesus says that we must hate our fathers and mothers, spouses and children, and hate even our very lives, that we must carry the cross, and that we must renounce all our possessions.

First, the one who will be a disciple of Jesus must “hate” father, mother, spouse, and children. The word ‘hate’ seems at odds with the Lord’s teaching elsewhere to love one another, not to mention the third commandment, to honor one’s father and mother. Without a doubt, the Lord uses hyperbole here, common for Jewish rabbis, to emphasize the radical commitment of discipleship. To be a disciple of Jesus, He must come first—before family, nation, ethnicity, race, politics, or any other earthly relationship. Christian Discipleship come first, before all else, or it’s not really Christian discipleship.

The second condition is that the Christian disciple must “carry his cross”.  Discipleship entails hardships: of proclaiming unwelcomed truths, of real personal sacrifice for the sake of the kingdom.  Following the Lord will often entail suffering, persecution for his sake, mockery from the world. Many people claim that anything worth doing is worth suffering for, but many are unwilling to suffer in order to follow Jesus’ teachings and the teachings of the Church. But discipleship requires the cross—change, effort, cost no matter how great that cost might be.

The third condition for discipleship is the renunciation of all possessions. This does not mean that we must become socialist and renounce private possessions, BUT, it does mean that everything we have is first at the disposal of God. In a sense, my possessions are not my own. They belong to God, and has put me in charge of using  my possessions at His discretion

Discipleship sounds costly.  And it is.  The cost of discipleship is everything. But through discipleship we gain eternal life and merit glory. If we are counted among his disciples on earth, we will be counted among the Blessed in heaven. Rejecting discipleship we have everything to lose, but embracing discipleship we have everything to gain.

The Saints who we celebrate this week show us why discipleship is so important. Through discipleship we cultivate love. And the degree of love we cultivate here on earth, corresponds to the degree of glory the disciple will experience in eternity, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.

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For an increase in faith, hope, and love among all of Jesus’ disciples, and that following the Lord’s teaching, we may take up the missionary call to make disciples of all nations.

That all newly elected officials may head the Lord’s teachings in their civic duties, personal and private lives, and labor always for the good of all.

That we may be ever more attentive to the needs of the sick, the poor, the despairing in our midst: for their comfort, relief, strength, health, and peace.

We pray in a special way during this month of November for all the faithful departed, for all the souls in purgatory, for our parishioners and benefactors who died this last year, for those who fought and died for our freedom and for X. for whom this mass is offered.

O God, you know that our life in this present age is subject to suffering and need, hear the prayers of those who cry to you and receive the prayers of those who believe in you. Through Christ our Lord.