Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Dear Friends,

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus speaks to us about “the cost of discipleship,” and he does not mince his words. He turns to address the crowd, and his first words are, “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.” I don’t know about you, but if I were in the crowd that day I probably would have awkwardly shuffled myself to the back and whistled my way out the door upon hearing such an intense requirement. But as he goes on to speak about picking up the cross, measuring the cost, and preparing to march into battle, it becomes clear that he isn’t giving his disciples license to ditch their families or be mean to their parents; rather, he is trying to show us that the call to be his follower is anything but casual and indifferent.

There were people in the crowd that day, and there are those of us in the pews today, who just want to come and hear Jesus give a sermon on Sunday and then go back to our normal lives. There are those of us who see our faith as a side activity, a nice hobby, or a way to make up for our other vices and attachments. But Jesus looks us in the eye today and decisively tells us: discipleship is not an afterthought. It is our primary call and duty; it’s the life we are meant for, and it is not an easy one. When the drama of our other relationships pulls us in different directions, and when the voice of the world beckons us to put our own desires first, Jesus wants to cut through the noise: ‘Forsake all of that! Hate all of it! Detach yourself from these temporary draws, and cling to me.’ This sort of radical detachment can feel like a brutal battle and a cross in a world that prioritizes personal gratification above all else. But the same Jesus who delivers this epic call to discipleship is also the one who told us that his “yoke is easy, and his burden light.” The real suffering would be to turn away from him in favor of temporary, worldly stand-ins. Jesus doesn’t just want our Sundays, he wants our whole selves, our whole hearts; and today he makes that bold and loving invitation.

Jule Coppa, Penn Campus Minister