Renouncing All for Jesus

Sept. 7, 2025

The Gospel for this Sunday is one of the more shocking teachings of Jesus. He says If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even more than his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple…. If anyone does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
   
What are we to make of these statements? Obviously, when Jesus says we must “hate” the members of our family, he does not intend us to take that literally. Jesus often spoke in hyperbole, stating something in a highly exaggerated way to make His point. This is a prime example. He is saying that He demands that we make Him first in our lives, that we must commit to serve Him above all else. In the first of the Two Great Commandments, He tells us that we are to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, our minds, our souls and our strength. “All” is a lot.

We may believe that in doing so we will not do just service to our parents, spouses, children, etc. But the reality is, if we love God above all else, we will be better sons and daughters, spouses, parents, etc. The more love we have for God, or for Christ, the more love we will have for others.
   
St. Francis, who lived a life of radical poverty, said that because he possessed nothing, he possessed everything. By renouncing all of his possessions, he was wealthy beyond measure.
   
These are deep spiritual teachings. When we turn them into literal laws, they lose their entire meaning.
 
Give all to Christ, and you will possess all.
—Fr. Mike Comer