Daily Gospel Reflection

The Cost of Discipleship

Welcome back to Radical and Relevant, where each day we explore the genius of the gospel, looking for a word, a phrase, or an idea to anchor our day in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Today's reading comes from the Gospel of Luke 14: 25-33. New great multitudes accompanied him. And he turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' Or what king going to encounter another king in war will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able within 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an emissary and asks terms of peace. So therefore, whoever of you does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple."

What jumps out at you today? The temptation is to say, "Oh, I have to hate my mother and my father and my brothers and my sisters." And what was Jesus saying there? And that, of course, isn't what we're doing here. There is a time for that type of biblical scholarship. But what we're doing here is we're looking for a word or a phrase or an idea that jumps out at you that the Holy Spirit wants to use to feed you today. And the word that jumped out at me or the phrase that jumped out at me comes just after all, "You've got to hate everyone in yourself." And Jesus says, "Whoever does not bear, his on cross." And that's the thing, right? That is the cost of discipleship. All throughout the reading, Jesus is talking about the cost of discipleship. He's talking about, "Okay, be mindful that there is a cost to this." And that's the cost is to take up our cross daily and to follow Jesus.

Now, I suspect you know what your cross is today. I certainly know what my cross is today. Question is, how do we take it up? Do we take it up begrudgedly? Do we take it up generously? Do we take it up with resentment? Do we take it up with anger? Do we take it up with love? Do we take it up with compassion? How you take up your cross today, that's what jumped out at me. What jumped out at you? Whoever does not bear his own cross, take up his own cross, and come after me cannot be my disciple. Let's take up our cross lovingly today. Have a great day and remember, Be Bold, Be Catholic.