As someone who reflects upon scripture, I love it when the daily readings seem to have a tug of war against each other on the same day. Today’s first reading from Romans says, “. . . whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love is the fulfillment of the law.”
In the law, the fourth commandment is, “Honor your mother and father.” Presumably, one who honors his parents would also love them . . . and even as our “neighbors,” we’re still supposed to love our parents.
However, in today’s Gospel selection from Luke, Jesus says, “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.”
So in one part of today’s reading we note that love is the fulfillment of the law, and in our Gospel selection, we’ve got Jesus saying we need to hate our families or we can’t be disciples. What’s going on?
First, Jesus was fond of using the entire range of literary devices in getting us to turn our hearts and minds to God. One such literary tool is exaggeration. For example, Jesus tells us (in Matthew 5:29-30) to cut off our hands or pluck out our eyes if they cause us to sin. I can’t believe Jesus meant that literally. There’s no record of anyone in the New Testament having done so; it would have been a remarkable sign of commitment to Christ if anyone had mutilated their hands or eyes to be freer from sin, and it seems likely that Christ would have chided anyone who still continued to sin if they hadn’t heeded his advice literally. Indeed, the Catechism notes that mutilation is a sin and “against the moral law.” (CCC 2297) (That paragraph of the Catechism does allow for such actions in the case of “strictly therapeutic medical reasons,” but self-blinding has never been taught by the Church as a remedy for sin regardless of what Christ says.)
So I feel pretty confident that Christ didn’t intend for us to literally follow his every proclamation. Rather, sometimes I believe the Son of God engaged in hyperbole or exaggeration to make us think about things in new ways and to wake us up to a new life in Christ.
So what’s Jesus’ intention here today, then?
First off, notice how the entire reading today is one paragraph. In other words, these aren’t separate ideas that are stitched together. So those ideas are likely meant to be taken together as a whole. By my eyes, I can break down today’s Gospel selection to three sections:
- Hate your family and yourself.
- Examples about how you should think toward the future.
- The conclusion.
Let’s turn back to that word “hate.” If you hate broccoli, you probably want nothing to do with it in your life. So, you’d avoid broccoli, you’d turn down dishes that have broccoli in it, and you would make sure your friends knew that you didn’t like broccoli (so they don’t accidentally serve it to you).
Now, look at that section: planning for the future. What is the future that Christ wants us to plan? Is it having a cool mansion? Are our children supposed to be the be-all and end-all of our lives? Are our spouses supposed to be the center of our universes, to the exclusion of everything else? Is our commitment to our parents supposed to override our God-given and Spirit-grown moralities?
No. The future for which Jesus wants us to plan is eternal life with God in Heaven. Anything that keeps us out of Heaven is anathema to Christ and his plan for salvation. And the future – like Christ’s examples – requires us to know, understand, and accept the true costs, so the plan comes to fruition. Anyone who becomes a Christian thinking, “Oh, life’s going to be roses and chocolate from now on” probably doesn’t fully understand the road they’re on.
And, finally, Jesus offers a conclusion: “In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
In other words, if you don’t renounce the things that will keep you out of Heaven, you can’t be Christ’s disciple.
That’s entirely in line with what Jesus has preached previously. In the same way that Christ taught you can’t serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), you can’t dedicate yourself to loving the things of this world and then hope to have any room in your heart for Jesus.
So if your parents are seeking to lead you into a life of corruption, then you need to “hate” them like you would hate broccoli – keep them out of your life. If your brother wants you to go in on a business venture that you know is immoral, then you need to say no and hate that aspect that you know is wrong. If your own base nature is driving a wedge between you and God, then you need to “hate” your own life, doing what you can to distance yourself from those parts of you that would keep you out of Heaven.
In following Christ, we are driven to hate the things of this world . . . which, perhaps ironically, drives us closer to loving one another. Realizing that more money won’t bring us lasting happiness goes a long way toward ensuring we donate what we can to the less fortunate. Realizing that aspects of our families are steeped in sin allows us to hate those elements while being Christlike in our resolve to love the individuals and try to bring them back into the fold.
Our plans for the future always begin with today. Ultimately, the future is not with our families or even ourselves, because they’re all destined to die. And we must turn away from that thought of our families, to “hate” the idea that they alone are the future. No, our future is with God in Heaven, which means that we must continually work toward that future today, by loving God and one another with all our hearts. There is the fulfillment of God’s law, and – God willing – we can all look forward to a future with our families and loved ones in Heaven . . . together.
