In 1952, Harland Sanders was a struggling businessman. At 65, he was living in a small house with an old car. But he decided things had to change. His friends raved about his chicken recipe; he thought this was his best shot to success. Leaving Kentucky, he travelled to the different States to sell his recipe. But he heard NO over 1,000 times. Even with all those rejections he did not give up. He believed his chicken recipe was something special. He finally got his first YES after 1009 attempts. With that one success, Sanders changed the way American eat chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken, popularly known as KFC, was born! Despite the cost, he succeeded, because he never gave up.
In today’s gospel, Jesus admonishes his followers that discipleship is demanding. They need to discern well because it requires a great cost. The cost is as much as a business man planning to build a 50-storey condominium. He should ask himself honestly if he has enough budget to be able to finish what he has started. The cost is as much as a general preparing to fight a war. He needs to calculate if he has enough soldiers and ammunitions to win the battle. The cost of discipleship is expensive. Jesus even points out that no one can become his disciple without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sister; even his own life.
What did Jesus really mean by “hating?” From his Semitic expression, it means “to love less, to turn away from or detach oneself from.” In other words, Jesus was warning the crowd that following him means turning away from the people they love and detach themselves from the life they have known. When I entered the seminary to be a priest, I experienced a most painful sacrifice: leaving my family and my home. I had to learn to disengage myself from them in order to follow Jesus. St. Paul urged Christians “to live for God and to put our old self to death.” This makes Christian discipleship a challenging journey of faith.
Prayer:Lord, make me courageous to accept the challenges of being your disciple as proof of my love for you.
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