Sunday, September 05, 2010
 

HATING TO BE A DISCIPLE
 

“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” These are pretty harsh words. In fact, they seem downright unchristian! Hate as a prerequisite for discipleship! Wow! Yet, these are Jesus’ words. So we need to examine them.

The word “hate” in this passage is, I am told, taken from the Greek word that is used in biblical passages to suggest a lesser love. It doesn’t refer to the rage and fury that hate signifies in our language. We must “come to Jesus” with utter openness to the demands of discipleship. That must be our priority. Nothing must come between us and discipleship.

God is love. Jesus revealed God’s love to us. It is because we know that we are so immensely loved by God that we respond in that love to reveal God’s love for the world. By its very nature, there can be no barriers to love, no restrictions to love, no qualifications to love. There can be no limits to discipleship because there can be no limits to love. A disciple is one who loves.

So how about hating “father and mother, wife and children, even his own life”? That is the nature of love. One gives everything, even one’s own very life, to the beloved. In that sense, I ‘hate’ my very own life. It is in giving of everything that one receives everything.

Remember the incident earlier in this gospel when Jesus was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside and they wish to see you.” Jesus responded by declaring, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.” At another time, a woman from the crowd, in a typical motherly remark, cried out, “Blessed is the womb that carried you and the breasts at which you nursed.” Jesus replied, “Rather, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” A disciple is ‘new’ family. A disciple’s relationship with God reaches way beyond blood ties and raises all relationships, even blood ties, to the level of God’s love. Our relationships with family and friends and those close to us, are raised to a whole new level of loving, the way of discipleship. But the first step of love it total giving of oneself. That is what Jesus is asking of his disciples here.

The context of the reading today is that “great crowds were traveling with him.” Jesus’ call to discipleship is a call to step out of the crowd. After talking about “hating” he immediately says, “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.” He follows that up with the parables of building a tower, or planning a war. He is saying to the potential disciple, “Be completely aware of what you are taking on.” He is saying to them, “You are choosing to take the Cross of discipleship to your shoulders.” Once you put your hand to the plow, there is no turning back. We say the same thing to a couple planning marriage, “Are you prepared for the demands of love? Are you prepared to renounce yourself and all your possessions for the sake of the other? Are you ready to choose a cross which will mean that everything else must be ‘hated’ if you are to carry that cross?” Love is not something we can do by going along with a crowd. It is the individual response to the word ‘come!’ that we hear from the One who promises us eternal life. But the road to that eternal life is a demanding one. Love makes a total demand.

Father Kevin P. Casey

The art displayed on this page is from http://cruzblanca.org/  "HERMANOS FRANCISCANOS DE CRUZ BLANCA"  Enjoy! Please visit their website.
 

 Date This Page Was Last Edited:   Friday, September 03, 2010 12:03 AM