"“If Anyone Comes to Me Without Hating His Father and Mother"

Sunday Mass Readings

Perhaps, one of the most controversial events of our times is the war in Iraq. The nation, and indeed, the world finds itself divided on the issue. In spite of the controversy surrounding the war, thousands of young people have joined the armed forces and some of them from this parish. Why on earth do young people with bright futures choose to go into the very midst of death? Yes, some do out of financial compulsions, and others for an education. And then there are those who find in their commitment, a cause higher than their own survival. For them, direct participation in the war in not about the war but about their love and commitment to a nation – a commitment that supersedes their relationship with their father, mother, brothers and sisters, and even their spouses and children. In other words, human beings sometimes are instinctively capable of heroic sacrifices that defy any rational explanation. Thus, when Jesus says in today’s gospel reading, “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,” he is not demanding anything extraordinary. If we understand the word “hate” correctly, then Jesus is not demanding from us anything that human beings are incapable of, because, as we said earlier, human beings are instinctively capable of heroic sacrifices that defy any rational explanation. In using the word “hate,” of course, Jesus is using a hyperbole – an exaggerated statement not to be taken literally. In other words, Jesus is saying that unless a person loves God more than… much, much more than his “father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters and even his own life,” such a person does not understand the implications of discipleship.

Perhaps Jesus was more aptly understood in his times than he is understood today. Unlike our society, ancient societies like the Jewish society revolved around the Law and the Temple. In fact, this model of social living continued up until the Enlightenment and the French revolution. At the center of every village or town was the sanctuary. Social events revolved around the liturgical calendar. Society was set up in such a way that human life naturally revolved around religious concerns. But with the Enlightenment, society began to break away from the hub that held everything together. Human rational capabilities and their accomplishments became the new altar and the human person became the new god. Human being built new altars: Wall Street has become the altar of the world; the television and movie screen, sports, the quest for power, and even one’s nation vie for the ultimate human commitment. In other words, Jesus call of commitment is more difficult today that it ever was because of other competing powers.

Let me offer three practical implications for today.

1. Paul Tillich, the twentieth century theologian, has an interesting observation to make in this regard. He says that, we humans are for most part idolaters and polytheists. We have, he suggests, a natural inclination for giving our unconditional trust and allegiance to very finite objects. Tillich was speaking from experience. He was himself committed to National socialism and his nation became his god. We human beings, he says, center our lives around a variety of idols that we worship. Some of these idols are social status, economic power, racial superiority, and even national pride. But he also explains why human beings create these idols. We create them, according to Tillich, for our own security. In other words, we are not all bad people. In our desire for security we allow ourselves to be led toward earthly things. Perhaps the greatest danger facing human beings as spiritual creatures, Tillich continues, is this tendency to give covert, ultimate allegiance to what deserves only preliminary commitment—to worship what is finite and ephemeral. But then, Tillich asks, “What should you value most in your life?” The answer, he says, is “Your God.”

2. My second point is a continuation of my first point and I begin with a question. Why should there be a clash between our commitment to God and our other commitments? In other words, why must Jesus call us to love God more than father and mother, wife and children and even our own lives? Well, the answer lies in the fact that any human person can have only one “ultimate” commitment. To construct “two ultimate concerns” is an oxymoron. Jesus says that our ultimate concern must be God because of all the things that vie for our ultimate concerns there is only one that leads to salvation – God. All the others can lead to a person only thus far. Only God can offer salvation. Since Jesus came for our salvation he leads us toward God. Everything else will pass.

3. My third point is the really the crucial point. Jesus asks us to “hate” the very things that people generally love the most; father, mother, wife, husband, children, brother, sister, the nation or even one’s own life. The point that Jesus is making is that, if it ever comes to making a choice between Jesus and these other things, if we do not instinctively choose Jesus, then, Jesus says, “You cannot be my disciple.” Some people like the martyrs and the apostles of Jesus reached this stage earlier that perhaps we ever will. But at least know what the ideal is. In our daily lives, if we can strive to live up to this ideal, we are on the road to salvation. With the help of the wisdom of God (see the first reading), we can achieve this.

At that first Eucharist, Jesus sat with his disciples and he broke the bread. Soon he would break himself himself on the cross. He loved his Father more than his own life and offered it up for our salvation. This Jesus invites us to love God the way he did. In this Eucharist let us pray for the courage to be like Jesus. Amen

Fr. Satish Joseph