SEPTEMBER 29^th 2013. TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 16:19-31

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

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GOSPEL                   Luke 16:19-31

Jesus said to the Pharisees: 'There was a rich man who used to dress in purple and fine linen and feast magnificently every day. And at his gate there lay a poor man called Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to fill himself with the scraps that fell from the rich man's table. Dogs even came and licked his sores. Now the poor man died and was carried away by the angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried.

'In his torment in Hades he looked up and saw Abraham a long way off with Lazarus in his bosom. So he cried out, "Father Abraham, pity me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in agony in these flames." "My son," Abraham replied "remember that during your life good things came your way, just as bad things came the way of Lazarus. Now he is being comforted here while you are in agony. But that is not all: between us and you a great gulf has been fixed, to stop anyone, if he wanted to, crossing from our side to yours, and to stop any crossing from your side to ours."

'The rich man replied, "Father, I beg you then to send Lazarus to my father's house, since I have five brothers, to give them warning so that they do not come to this place of torment too." "They have Moses and the prophets," said Abraham "let them listen to them." "Ah no, father Abraham," said the rich man "but if someone comes to them from the dead, they will repent." Then Abraham said to him, "If they will not listen either to Moses or to the prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone should rise from the dead".

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . In the parable, a rich man lives a life of great comfort and neglects to help the poor man at his door. He is so caught up with the pleasures of life that he doesn’t even seem aware that Lazarus is there. It is only from the perspective of eternity that the real significance of his life is revealed to him. In the same way, we must constantly evaluate our lives and our acts from the point of view of eternity. Sometimes we are unhappy and unfulfilled because we don’t know how to act; we don’t know what to do with ourselves. But once we start to evaluate the events of our lives from the point of view of eternity, then we begin to see the true meaning of things. There is a light coming from eternity that illuminates the present moment for each of us. The rich man didn’t see that light and utterly failed to discern the emptiness and waywardness of his existence. There is an Ignatian principle of discernment that each of us should make use of on a daily basis: “Does this thing bring me closer to God, or is it something that is directed towards myself only?” The journey that each of us has taken in life has an eternal destination. It is always the destination that gives meaning to each individual step. In this sense, the poor people that we meet every day are a step towards Paradise. They are an open door onto Paradise that we can step through or we can turn away from. Jesus is not trying to coax us into doing good deeds out of a fear of eternal punishment! He is trying to reveal the greatness of our lives, the immense dignity that we possess, the incredible opportunity that each day presents to us to do things that have eternal significance.

The rich man thought he had everything in life, but it is only in death that he sees the real nature of his life

The parable recounts the story of the rich man’s complete neglect of the beggar who lies at his gate. Perhaps the most significant moment in the story arrives when the rich man dies, is tormented, and then looks up and sees Lazarus in heaven with Abraham. This, finally, is the moment of discernment for the rich man. During his life, he dressed himself in fine clothes and feasted every day, whilst Lazarus lay outside hoping for some compassion, but received comfort only from the dogs. It is only in death that these facts are understood in the fullest sense. Our earthly lives are short in comparison with the eternity that awaits us. And the significance of our lives can only be discerned from the point of view of eternity. The critical thing is that the events of our earthly lives determine how we will be in eternity. And these events can only be understood properly by looking at them them from paradise or from hell, by looking at them in terms of their definitive consequences.

It is only from the perspective of eternity that the individual events of our lives have their true meaning

One of the problems of our existence is that we often have trouble discerning what we are to do in life. Our unhappiness derives from mistaken choices that we have made. Our lack of fulfilment is caused by the wrong paths we have taken. When we consider our past, we are struck by the pervasive wastefulness and lack of growth. How can we avoid the abject failure of discernment that characterizes the rich man in the parable? The rich man himself is aware of this danger and asks that Abraham send Lazarus to his brothers so that they will consider their lives in terms of its eternal significance. “If someone comes from the dead they will repent,” he tells Abraham. In other words, it is only someone who has seen the significance of life beyond death that can understand things in a complete sense. The light of truth is something that comes from beyond the barrier between this life and eternity. Every act that I do in life receives its significance from the point of view of eternity. One of the methods of discernment of St Ignatius was the question, “Does this act bring me closer to God, or is it something that is directed towards myself only?” In the context of Jesus’ parable we could reword this as follows, “Does this act bring me to heaven or to hell?” “Is this something that I can present to God with happiness or with shame?”

It is the destination of our journey that gives significance to each individual step

When we embark on any journey, it is the destination that gives sense to each individual step. Whether we like it or not, we must face up to the fact that every act we do is a step with ramifications for our eternal destination. Everything I do has repercussions in eternity. This fact should make us stop and take note of the way our lives are unfolding. The first reading from Sunday (from the prophet Amos) speaks of those who live in great comfort and never give a thought for those who have less than themselves. It is high time that all of us ceased being so thoughtless about the way we act. In the face of the suffering of others, we behave like people who haven’t any duty or responsibility towards our neighbour! We carry on without a care or a thought in the world, like people who are incapable of reason. The poor beggar is looked upon by us as a smelly nuisance at our door! The sooner he is out of our sight the better! How is it that we cannot see that he is the door to Paradise for us? To see his significance we must lift our eyes to eternity, as the rich man does in the parable.

God is standing in front of us in the person of the poor and needy. The beggar I meet is my door to Paradise

Jesus recounts this story to the Pharisees, to the very ones who do not accept the poverty of God that stands before them in the person of Jesus. But this challenge is not just for the Pharisees of two thousand years ago. It is also for each one of us in the present moment. The mendicant nature of God is such that he wanders through humanity seeking a crumb of charity from our hearts. Like the Pharisees we feast on the good things of God, totally unaware that God is right in front of us in the form of the poor person who needs our help. God is knocking at our door but we do not see that it is him. The final phrase of the parable says, “If they did not listen to Moses and the prophets, then they will not listen even if someone were to rise from the dead.” Are we conscious of the extraordinary efforts of God to reveal the truth to us? Are we mindful of the significance of the resurrection of Jesus for our day to day acts?

Jesus is not trying to scare us into doing “good deeds.” He is trying to reveal to us the enormous dignity that we possess, the potential greatness of our lives and the eternal significance of our acts

We are all greedy participants in a feast - a feast not only of material things but also of spiritual things. And we consume these things with little regard for anything beyond the present moment. It is time to open ourselves to the profound significance of our acts. This is not to say that we should take a guilt-ridden perspective on our lives. Jesus’ intention in recounting the parable is not to reprimand us for the little that we have done, but to make us aware of the wonderful things that we can still do. He wishes to make us aware of the greatness of life, of the remarkable opportunities that he has bestowed upon us, of the fact that every act is a door that opens onto Paradise! We can make our lives right now a fantastic journey to eternity. The aim of Jesus’ story is not to make some sort of purely ethical point that we must force ourselves by the power of the will to do good works. The parable, rather, tries to reveal to us the truth of the eternal dimension of our lives. What enormous dignity we possess! How eternal is the significance of our acts! Once we are aware of this truth then we begin to evaluate our lives from a perspective that goes beyond the present moment.

SEPTEMBER 22^nd  2013. TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 16:1-13

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL                   Luke 16:1-13

Jesus said to his disciples, 'There was a rich man and he had a steward denounced to him for being wasteful with his property. He called for the man and said, "What is this I hear about you? Draw me up an account of your stewardship because you are not to be my steward any longer." Then the steward said to himself, "Now that my master is taking the stewardship from me, what am I to do? Dig? I am not strong enough. Go begging? I should be too ashamed. Ah, I know what I will do to make sure that when I am dismissed from office there will be some to welcome me into their homes."

Then he called his master's debtors one by one. To the first he said, "How much do you owe my master?" "One hundred measures of oil" was the reply. The steward said, "Here, take your bond; sit down straight away and write fifty". To another he said, "And you, sir, how much do you owe?" "One hundred measures of wheat" was the reply. The steward said, "Here, take your bond and write eighty".

'The master praised the dishonest steward for his astuteness. For the children of this world are more astute in dealing with their own kind than are the children of light.'

'And so I tell you this: use money, tainted as it is, to win you friends, and thus make sure that when it fails you, they will welcome you into the tents of eternity. The man who can be trusted in little things can be trusted in great; the man who is dishonest in little things will be dishonest in great. If then you cannot be trusted with money, that tainted thing, who will trust you with genuine riches? And if you cannot be trusted with what is not yours, who will give you what is your very own?

'No servant can be the slave of two masters: he will either hate the first and love the second, or treat the first with respect and the second with scorn. You cannot be the slave both of God and of money.'

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . An administrator knows that he will be found wanting when his master examines the accounts. In response, he writes off the debts of others, so winning friends for himself when he is dismissed from employment. In the same way, each one of us will be found wanting when the Lord asks us to give an account of how we have administered the goods given to us. How should we respond? By writing off the debts of others! By showing mercy towards others for the things they have done to us! By using our material goods for the benefit of others! The only way to administer our material goods well in the eyes of the master is to use them for the good of others! Should we be proud of ourselves when we do such good deeds towards others? Absolutely not! Christian action is not a series of admirable deeds originating in abstract principles. Christian action is a response to the One who has loved us more, and to whom we owe an infinite debt of love. Christian action originates in the humble and happy conviction that I cannot adequately repay the Lord for his goodness and mercy to me. As St Francis of Sales said, “I would prefer a barrow load of defects carried by humility than a cartload of talents borne along by pride”. In the same way our good deeds should spring from the awareness of our own defects and the fact that we have been recipients of the Lord’s mercy.

Like the administrator, all of us will be found wanting on the day of reckoning

This difficult text has always posed problems of interpretation. An administrator is accused of being wasteful. The text does not state that the man is actually guilty; all it says is that accusations were made against him. If accusations were made against any of us, then all of us would be found wanting in the sight of the justice of God. None of us could present ourselves before God and say that we have administered his goods well. The more holy a person is then the more he becomes aware of his shortcomings. St Teresa of Avila said that when it is dark we cannot see how dirty the house is, but when there is great light we can even see the dust particles in the air. When the day of reckoning comes, none of us will be able to hold our heads up and say that we have administered all things justly. Even the greatest of saints need Jesus to redeem them by dying on the cross. If that is true of the great saints, then how much more is it true for each one of us!

Like the administrator, each of us has defects that we cannot overcome. We cannot redeem ourselves with our own resources

When the administrator in the Gospel realizes that the day of reckoning is approaching fast, he asks himself what he will do. He recognizes his own limitations, acknowledging that he is not strong enough for manual labour and would be too ashamed to beg. In the same way, each one of us has defects that we cannot overcome. And when the day of reckoning arrives for us, we will not be able to save ourselves by overcoming these defects with our own resources. So what should we do? Let us see what the administrator in the parable does, keeping in mind that this is an analogy and we do not have to imitate him perfectly! The administrator fiddles the books and reduces the debts owed by others to his master. He begins to show a magnanimity towards others, albeit with his own “salvation” in mind.

Like the administrator, we can use our defects as a springboard from which we begin to put ourselves in right relationship with others.

We do not have to engage in such dishonest acts but we can still be true to the spirit of what this administrator has done. Like him we know we will be found wanting on the day of reckoning. We are not able to overcome these defects with our own strength, but one thing we can do is begin to show magnanimity towards others. We can reduce the debts of others towards us by forgiving them freely. We can begin to use the goods that God has given us for the benefit of others. As Scripture says, “Charity covers a multitude of sins”. In this light, the parable fits in perfectly with the rest of the Gospel of Jesus. If others treat us badly, then they give us an occasion to respond with mercy. The Beatitudes state, “Blessed are the merciful for they shall find mercy”. They find it because their merciful acts were themselves a way of looking for mercy! To show forgiveness towards others is nothing other than the principal road to salvation. When we forgive another we sometimes think we are healing that person, but in reality we are also healing ourselves. As St Francis of Sales said, “Rather than a cartload of talents being carried by pride, I would prefer a cartload of defects carried by humility.” Our defects can become a springboard from which we go forth to show mercy towards others. In the same way, all of the goods that we have become the road to redemption if we use them for love.

Christian action does not spring from abstract principles but from the debts of love we owe our maker

Who will defend us when the master asks us to account for the way in which we have administered his goods? Those whom we have forgiven. Those to whom we have shown generosity. Those that we have responded to in a material way and those we have responded to with our hearts. The road to salvation is not the path of great achievements or merit on our part. It is not a catalogue of the wonderful things we have done. It is the path of humility, upon which we realize our defects and our inability to achieve redemption ourselves. Whatever I do manage to do for others must not be done with the notion that I am a wonderful person, making great sacrifices for others. Rather I must do my good deed with the conviction that this is a debt that I am repaying the Lord. It is a happy debt that derives from the goodness of the Lord to me. The Our Father says, “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive the debts of others.” This notion is at the heart of the Gospel. Christian action does not originate in the abstract notion of just behaviour. Rather it originates in the humble heart of the person who is aware of the great imbalance in the account between him and his maker. The Christian tries to redress this imbalance with acts of love. Such acts do not make the Christian proud, but they give consolation.

SEPTEMBER 15^TH 2013. TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 15:1-10

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL                   Luke 15:1-10

The tax collectors and the sinners were all seeking the company of Jesus to hear what he had to say, and the Pharisees and the scribes complained. ‘This man’ they said ‘welcomes sinners and eats with them.’ So he spoke this parable to them:
‘What man among you with a hundred sheep, losing one, would not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the missing one till he found it? And when he found it, would he not joyfully take it on his shoulders and then, when he got home, call together his friends, and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” he would say “I have found my sheep that was lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one repentant sinner than over ninety-nine virtuous men who have no need of repentance.

‘Or again, what woman with ten drachmas would not, if she lost one, light a lamp and sweep out the house and search thoroughly till she found it? And then, when she had found it, call together her friends and neighbours? “Rejoice with me,” she would say “I have found the drachma I lost.” In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing among the angels of God over one repentant sinner.’

He also said, ‘A man had two sons. The younger said to his father, “Father, let me have the share of the estate that would come to me.” So the father divided the property between them. A few days later, the younger son got together everything he had and left for a distant country where he squandered his money on a life of debauchery.

‘When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch, so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who ut him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled his belly with the husks the pigs were eating but no one offered him anything. Then he came to his senses and said, “How many of my father’s paid servants have more food than they want, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your paid servants.” So he left the place and went back to his father.

‘While he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was moved with pity. He ran to the boy, clasped him in his arms and kissed him tenderly. Then his son said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. -I no longer deserve to be called your son.”

But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring out the best robe and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the calf we have been fattening, and kill it; we are going to have a feast, a celebration, because this son of mine was dead and has come back to life; he was lost and is found.” And they began to celebrate.

‘Now the elder son was out in the fields, and on his way back, as he drew near the house, he could hear music and dancing. Calling one of the servants he asked what it was all about. “Your brother has come” replied the servant “and your father has killed the calf we had fattened because he has got him back safe and sound.” He was angry then and refused to go in, and his father came out to plead with him; but he answered his father, “Look, all these years I have slaved for you and never once disobeyed your orders, yet you never offered me so much as a kid for me to celebrate with my friends. But, for this son of yours, when he comes back after swallowing up your property — he and his women — you kill the calf we had been fattening.”

‘The father said, “My son, you are with me always and all I have is yours. But it was only right we should celebrate and rejoice, because your brother here was dead and has come to life; he was lost and is found.”’
The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Their merciless extortion of taxes and dishonest behaviour had made the tax-collectors the most reviled members of Jewish society. Yet they were all flocking to Jesus, regardless of whether they had repented of their immoral behaviour or not. The Pharisees begin to grumble, asking themselves how Jesus can associate with such deceitful individuals. In response, Jesus recounts three parables: the parable of the shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go after the single lost sheep; the parable of the woman who searches exhaustively for the one coin lost out of ten; and the parable of the father who waits for the prodigal son. Each of these stories tells us what God is like and who each one of us is for God. God is the one who does not deal in numbers. He cares for each of us individually, even if we are great sinners, and he will seek us out endlessly until we return to him. Who are you for God? If you contemplate the cross of Jesus Christ then you begin to appreciate that you are the one who must not be lost at all costs. Sometimes you can get disillusioned, forgetting who you are for God, falling into sin and disorder as a result. These parables reveal that you are everything for God! You are the one that he will leave everything else for.

The contrasting position of the Publicans and the Pharisees in Jewish society

It is a good idea to read the longer version of Sunday’s Gospel. When we hear all three of these parables together, then the message that Jesus wishes to teach stands out much more clearly. And this message can best be understood by keeping in mind the context in which the parables are told. The passage begins by telling us that the Publicans and sinners had been seeking Jesus company. The Publicans were not ordinary sinners! They worked with the Romans in collecting the taxes from the people. The techniques they used to extract money from people who couldn’t afford to pay were abominable. And they were engaged in dishonest profit-making themselves. Their “sin” was of a very public sort and they were reviled by the people. It is important to keep this in mind when we read the Gospel. Jesus was associating with people who were understandably hated and castigated by Jewish society at large. These were the sort of people that if we saw them coming into Mass today we would be inclined to stand up and leave. The Pharisees and Scribes, by contrast, were well respected and loved in Jewish society. They were responsible for maintaining the faith of the people. They lived lives of great coherency and were extremely faithful to the word of God. If we saw them at Mass today we would be inclined to say to ourselves, “These people have great integrity and faith. How more worthy they are than me to be here!”

Why does Jesus associate with the most immoral people in society?

The Gospel tells us that not just a few but all of the Publicans and sinners were seeking out Jesus’ company. What an embarrassing development! The text doesn’t tell us that they first repented and then went after Jesus. No, they were looking for Jesus’ company whether or not they had changed their ways. The Pharisees and Scribes begin to complain. In other words, the respectable people - the people who contribute to parish life, the people who are trustworthy - begin to become uneasy at the way that Jesus associates with such repulsive and dishonest individuals. Their grumbling is really a way of asking of Jesus “Who are you? What do you stand for? You welcome sinners and eat with them!” Jesus responds by recounting three parables that are shocking and scandalous in themselves. The third parable – the story of the prodigal son – is the most shocking of all.

God does not work in terms of numbers but in terms of persons

In the first parable Jesus tells of a shepherd who leaves the ninety nine to go after the lost sheep. For God, the single lost sheep is more important than the sheep that are already in the fold. This is an attitude that doesn’t make sense to us. For us ninety-nine percent is as good as everything. The second parable tells of a woman who has nine coins and loses one. All of us would be inclined to think, “What does it matter? We have nine out of ten. One lost is no big deal”. But for God, losing one is no trivial matter. Just one less is no trivial matter. Our utilitarian approach to life calculates the value of things in numbers. Big gains are everything and small losses are inconsequential. But the loss of a sister? A brother? Is it really such an unimportant thing? I need to have the depths of my heart invaded by the Holy Spirit in order to see things from God’s perspective! The Holy Spirit says that one alone is worth anything. It would be worthwhile to lose everything that I have in order to save a single person. We cannot be remiss about the salvation of individual people just because there are so many other people around who need to be saved.

Who are you for God? You are the one that he must go after at all costs!

That is my sheep. That is my coin. That is my son. There is a difference here! Who are you for God? You are the one who must not be lost at all costs! You are the one who must be sought out! Jesus seeks out those who must not be lost. Very often we fall into sin and disorder because we have not appreciated who we are for God. We have not comprehended that we are the ones who must not be lost! If you have doubts about that, then you need to contemplate with all of your heart the cross of Jesus Christ, who died for you so that you would not be lost. Many people despise themselves and fall into the abyss of sin, failing to see the importance of themselves in the eyes of God. Sometimes we are uncharitable to others because we don’t see how irreplaceable each one of these people is for God. We fail to appreciate how wonderful each single person is in the Father’s eyes. The shepherd seeks the lost sheep, the woman searches for the lost coin, and the father waits for the son to return. The son was lost and is found, was dead and is alive again. For the Father this is everything! Not one of us must be lost!

SEPTEMBER 8^TH 2013. TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF ORDINARY TIME

Gospel: Luke 14:25-33

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Translated from a homily by Don Fabio Rosini, broadcast on Vatican Radio

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Don Fabio’s reflection follows the Gospel reading ...

(Check us out on Facebook – Sunday Gospel Reflection)

GOSPEL                   Luke 14:25-33

Great crowds accompanied Jesus on his way and he turned and spoke to them.
If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple.

Anyone who does not carry his cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. And indeed, which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, the onlookers would all start making fun of him and saying, "Here is a man who started to build and was unable to finish". Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who advanced against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace. So in the same way, none of you can be my disciple unless he gives up all his possessions.

The Gospel of the Lord: Praise to you Lord Jesus Christ

Kieran’s summary . . . Do the sayings of Jesus in this passage scandalize us? Do we feel that Jesus is being a little too demanding? Surely he doesn’t really expect us to hate our own lives and give up all of our possessions? Jesus’ use of the examples of the tower and the army, however, serve to emphasize the entirely reasonable nature of what Jesus is saying. When we go to build a tower or fight a battle we do our calculations first so that we will be in a position to bring the project to fruition. In the same way, the project of being a disciple of Jesus will never come to fruition if certain basic preconditions are not met. Authentic discipleship entails putting Christ before all material goods and human relationships. If Christ is not first in our hearts, then he doesn’t really figure in our hearts at all. What dominates our hearts in that case is the material wellbeing or human relationship that we have failed to renounce for the sake of Christ. So this Gospel reading really is very radical after all! And that is because true discipleship is something utterly radical. Christ must be first in our lives. No human relationship, material comfort, or personal project must take the place in our lives that rightfully belongs to the Lord.

True discipleship requires that our hearts are radically oriented to Christ and not to material things

This passage confronts us with the radical character of the Gospel in all of its rawness. This rawness is well preserved in the English translation which (like the Greek text) says, “If any man comes to me without hating his father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, yes and his own life too, he cannot be my disciple” [the Italian translation has, “if any man loves his father, mother, etc., more than me, he cannot be my disciple”]. It would be wrong, however, to think that Jesus is setting down extreme and irrational demands on anyone who wishes to be a disciple. Rather, he is making the comment that if we do not display a certain attitude towards him (where we put him before everything else), then we simply are not his disciples. This becomes clear when Jesus goes on to speak about what it takes to succeed in building a tower or winning a battle. These two examples provide the key with which we must read the radical statement of Jesus that appears at the beginning of the Gospel. In order to build a tower one must do A, B and C. In order to win a battle, one must do A, B and C. In order to be a disciple, the fundamental thing one must do is not to have their hearts enslaved to other things. It is simply not possible to cross the threshold of the kingdom of heaven, to belong to the risen Christ who is calling us to life, if we have the wrong priorities within our hearts.

Detachment from material things is the fundamental precondition for entering into authentic relationship with Jesus

At the beginning of the passage, Jesus calls us to place our relationship with him before all other relationships in our lives. At the end of the passage, he asks us to put him before all of our possessions. This, perhaps, is the most scandalous of all of Jesus’ sayings. But if the goods of this earth wield such influence over us that they cannot be renounced, then they have become our masters. If we cannot say no to them, then they have become the fundamental co-ordinates of our behaviour. Once possessions assume a guiding role in our lives, then they impede our ability to serve others and to love. It is impossible to love another if we are not ready to lose everything. This is why there is an undeniable call to poverty in the Gospel. There can be no doubt that we are called to be detached from material things, free from bondage to the things of this world. Even in the consecrated life, people claim that they do not “own” anything, yet they are often guaranteed a certain standard of life to which they become attached. The quality of our material wellbeing should be made secondary to my following of the Lord Jesus. If my comfort and security is placed before everything else, then I do not follow the Lord Jesus authentically.

Christianity often compromises itself by giving a priority to material goods. True discipleship must be radically oriented towards Christ, whatever the repercussions for my material wellbeing

It is a constant source of discouragement to observe the common form of “Christianity” that takes a compromised attitude towards the possessions of this world. This “Christianity” has been watered down so that it is palatable and inoffensive to people. But any purported “discipleship” that places a priority on certain “fundamental” material securities cannot be real. It cannot go forward for long. If we claim to be Christian, but do not wish our discipleship to have any repercussions for our material wellbeing, then we will quickly run aground. Like the tower that Jesus describes in the Gospel, this “project” will never see completion. If we think we can marry a spouse without putting that relationship before every other material thing that we possess, then we are deluding ourselves. If this marriage is to be authentic, then my love for my spouse must come before everything that I am and everything that I possess.

The relationship with Jesus must take priority over all other human relationships

The Gospel begins by asking that our relationship with Christ be put before every other relationship. Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking that relationships of affection don’t carry any dangers with them. But relationships can bind people in negative ways, cutting the wings of vocations that are never realized, confining people in infantile states where they do not reach full maturity. Family relationships are important but they should never take on an absolute character. Think of Abraham who was asked to put God before his affection for his only son. It was not that Abraham was asked to renounce his affection for his son. Instead he was asked to place this relationship in the correct position with respect to the Lord who is the source of life. Evidently we have to be very careful here. It would not be right if a misguided zeal for God led us to do things that were inhuman. We will keep our feet on the ground if we keep the real point of this Gospel in front of us. The point is that the relationship with Jesus must be primary. From the relationship with Jesus, much love and much joy will come into our lives. The refusal to let the goods of this world take priority over Christ does not kill the joy and love in our lives but makes our lives even more joyful!

If we put others before Christ then we will never reach Christ at all

If a husband and wife consider the horizontal love between them to be the most fundamental thing, then their relationship is very fragile. But if the spouses put their relationship with God first, then they find themselves able to love the other spouse in a much more abundant way. If our relationships with others take on an all-dominant character, then we might find we are making an investment in something that cannot repay our outlay. The other might become sick, mentally ill, or even die. Thus, we cannot build the foundation of our lives on father, mother, spouse, children. I cannot even base my life on my own particular existence. I must simply love the Lord more. In the Greek (and in the English) the text says that I must “hate” these family members and even my own life. This verb registers the forceful way in which we must reject any dependency on family ties that impedes our relationship with Christ. Family ties are good in themselves, but like anything that is good they can become diseased. In order to follow Christ we must belong to him totally. And from this we are enabled to love spouses, children, parents, brothers and sisters. If we put others before Christ, then we will never reach Christ at all. These relationships, these material goods, will become obstacles that will prevent us from having life, the authentic life that is the free gift of the Lord. We must “hate” our own life in order to have true life restored to us. And once it is restored to us, we will never lose it.