Are there any says of Jesus that you wish He had not spoken?

Archbishop Rigali one time wisely said:  “You know, there are some things that we all wish that Jesus had not said.  It would make our lives so much easier.  But he did say them, and so we have to come to terms with them.”  Today’s gospel makes it onto my list of top ten things that I wish Jesus had NOT said.  “If anyone comes to me without HATING his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even their own life, they cannot be my disciple!” ARRG!!!  Jesus, what are you thinking?  I come from a big family – 5 boys, one girl.  I cannot imagine my life without them or my nieces and nephews.  Yet there it is.  One cannot come to Jesus without HATING them.    It is not a typo, nor a mistranslation that we are dealing with.  The Greek word that is translated here is “misein” – to hate – from which we get the words misanthrope – a hater of humanity and misogynist – a hater of women.  So what are we to make of this – that the same Jesus who called us elsewhere to love our enemies and do good to those who persecute us is now telling us to hate our family?   How can we come to terms with this? 

I think here is where it makes sense.  In Luke’s gospel, Jesus has reached a turning point.  He has decided to head to Jerusalem, out of obedience to his prayer to the Father, knowing that it will probably mean his end, his death.  He knows that path will take every ounce of love and commitment and strength that he has.  And that there can be no turning back.  He has given his word to His father, and nothing will sway him.  So He turns around, and sees the ‘crowd’ following.  The crowd, smiling, upbeat, happy to be a part of something exciting.  And he knows that there are MILES to go before the end – both literally and figuratively.  So he uses SHOCKING language to knock people out of their giddy happiness into a realistic assessment of their WILLINGNESS to follow.  “YOU cannot follow me unless you turn your back on EVERYTHING that wants to possess you but me.” 

And though we know that he is using hyperbole – like when he tells his disciples if their eye causes them to sin, they must cut it out.  He says the same about their hands and their feet.  Scriptures do not record the disciples doing that physical surgery.  YET THE POINT IS THE SAME - beyond the HARSH language Jesus uses is the even harsher truth.  If you would be a disciple, it will eventually cost you EVERYTHING.  EVERYTHING. 

That is what he is asking the CROWD as they walked the path with him.  Your choice to follow me must be at once deliberate, absolute, complete and unswerving.  To be my disciple is to be as devoted to me as I am to the Father.  There is no other way.   Nothing else will see you through the costs that love demands of you. 

I think our Catholic ritual of marriage has it right.  During that romantic, wonderful exchange of vows, we hear that harsh – UNTIL DEATH DO YOU PART – right in the middle of their pledge of love.  It is not the stuff of sappy sentimentality. Those are harsh, fighting words.  SO those are the words Jesus uses when he sees that excited crowd blindly following the latest fad – him.   “You cannot be my follower unless you hate father and mother, brothers and sisters, even your very life.”  “Take up your cross daily and follow me.”  “In the same way, no one can be my disciple if they do not renounce all their possessions.”  These are hard sayings.  Things I wish Jesus had not said.  But you can’t get around this.  You can’t explain the reality behind them away.  If you want to be my disciple you MUST (divine imperative here) take up your cross.

St. Ignatius of Loyola says that each disciple has to write God a blank check.  Nothing else will suffice.  Nothing else will give you the courage and strength to see the journey through to the end.  In my own life I know how true that is.  That is why I delayed ordination for a year and a half.  I was afraid to write that check.  And I knew I had to, or else my priesthood would not last.  My love of Jesus would have to be sustained by that yes in the tough times.  So I waited and prayed until I could write that check.  Because, like Jesus, I knew that only that radical a yes would ever sustain me through the life I was choosing. 
Do I wish that Jesus hadn’t said everything he did?  Actually, no – because I have come to know the why – only with great love and an even greater act of commitment will we ever be able to pick up our cross and follow him…  And this evening, around this table, we are given the chance to renew our commitment…