Homily – 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Large crowds were following Jesus.
He turns.
And instead of making it easier, He makes it harder.

“If anyone comes to me and does not hate father, mother, wife, children, brothers, sisters, even his own life — he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.”

No fine print.
No bargain price.
No half measures.

He is not selling a product.
He is not chasing numbers.
He is looking for disciples.

Crowds are easy to gather.
Disciples are costly to form.

Jesus is not after your applause — He is after your allegiance.

That is why His words are sharp.
He wants them — and us — to know the truth: following Him costs everything.

Two parables.
A man building a tower. A king preparing for war.

Both must sit down, think, and calculate.

The builder who starts without finishing becomes a joke.
The king who marches without reckoning is crushed.

So too, the disciple who starts the Christian life casually and quits halfway.

Better to be honest at the start than to be a half-built tower at the end.

Does Jesus mean we should literally hate our family? No.
But He does mean this: compared with Him, every other love must be second.
Christ first. Everything else in its place.

• He is not asking us to love our family less.
• He is asking us to love Him more — so that we can love our family better.