Readings for Sunday September 5th, 2010

23rd Sunday in Ordinary time

Summary of the Gospel

This Sunday's Gospel seems to begin with an apparent contradiction. We have an understanding that Jesus and the Church are totally behind family life. No one has been a bigger support of family life in the world than the Church. Is this Gospel passage showing us a different side of Jesus, one that is really against family life and good relationships within the family? A closer look at what Jesus saying does not pit Jesus against family life; rather, what Jesus is trying to do here is properly order family life and all relationships we have.
Jesus is teaching us that we will have no more important relationship in our lives than our relationship with Him. Our relationship with our parents, siblings, spouses and children are all important relationships, but none of them are on them same level as our relationship with Christ. Being a disciple of Jesus is more important than anything else in our lives, even peace in our families. Often times we get caught up into thinking that pleasing other people is the most important thing in life. Yet while Jesus taught we should serve each other and put their needs over our own, He never taught that we should seek to please people just to make them happy.
Following Jesus, and making Him first, means that everything else takes second place, even our family and friends. This can be very difficult, because choosing Christ over our family can make day-to-day living a difficult chore. It will bring tension to people when they realize that they are not the top priority on your list. In this Gospel, Jesus compares being His disciple to being a person who planned properly. No one would build a tower or go to war without completely assessing the situation.
Jesus is inviting us to assess the situation of our lives. He is inviting us to look at our entire lives and to see if any people or things come before Him. If that is the case, then we are invited to make the decision to renounce everything and follow Him. Nothing in this world is worth keeping us from Christ! The words of this Gospel are clear and direct. May we have the ability to do whatever Jesus asks of us, no matter what other people think about us.







Reading 1 Wisdom 9:13-18b

13 Who can know God's counsel, or who can conceive what the LORD intends? 14 For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. 15 For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. 16 And scarce do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? 17 Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given wisdom and sent your holy spirit from on high? 18b And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight.

Reading II Philemon 9-10, 12-17

9 I, Paul, an old man, and now also a prisoner for Christ Jesus, 10 urge you on behalf of my child Onesimus, whose father I have become in my imprisonment; 12 I am sending him, that is, my own heart, back to you. 13 I should have liked to retain him for myself, so that he might serve me on your behalf in my imprisonment for the gospel, 14 but I did not want to do anything without your consent, so that the good you do might not be forced but voluntary. 15 Perhaps this is why he was away from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, a brother, beloved especially to me, but even more so to you, as a man and in the Lord. 17 So if you regard me as a partner, welcome him as you would me.

Gospel Luke 14:25-33

25 Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, 26 "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 28 Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? 29 Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him 30 and say, 'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.' 31 Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? 32 But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. 33 In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple."

Discussion Questions

1. Why do you think Jesus used such strong language of 'hating' one's mother and father? How do you think the crowds reacted to this language? How can Jesus' use of this word be reconciled with the commandment to honor one's father and mother?

2. Has your relationship with Christ ever caused tension with your other family members? If so, describe.

3. If renouncing all of our possessions is a requirement of following Jesus, how well are you doing at that? Of what possessions (or people) do you have trouble letting go?