HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY, 31ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

HOMILY FOR WEDNESDAY, 31ST WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR A)

THEME: COST OF DISCIPLESHIP

BY: MSGR GERALD M. MUSA

Every day, we count costs, such as costs of essential commodities, transportation, and the cost of living. Besides, our daily plans, decisions, and choices involve costs and budgets. Economists speak of all kinds of costs: direct costs, indirect costs, fixed costs, operating costs, opportunity costs, sunk costs, and controllable costs.

In theology, Dietrich Bonhoeffer mentions costs when he differentiates between cheap and costly grace. Cheap grace implies seeking grace without readiness to make sacrifices, seeking forgiveness without repentance, and going for communion without the willingness to confess our sins. In contrast, costly grace calls for the sacrifice of our most treasured possessions and pleasures and for spending oneself, which includes laying down one’s life.

Today, Jesus speaks to us about the cost of discipleship. What he says is shocking: “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” (Luke 14:26). The word ‘hate’ here means to love less. In other words, if we wish to be true disciples of Jesus, we must love God over and above all persons, including family members. Mother Theresa says, “For love to be real, it must cost, it must hurt, it must empty us of self.” To follow Jesus is to follow in his footsteps of love, to listen to him, to learn from him, and to translate his message into everyday life. Are we ready to be true disciples?

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