Fly Freely!

Gospel of the Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

I – Moorings and Weights in the Spiritual Life

In June of 1783, the Montgolfier brothers, Joseph-Michel and Jacques-Étienne, sons of a Lyon paper manufacturer, successfully flew a giant cloth balloon, 32 metres in circumference, before the thunderstruck eyes of their countrymen. Filled with hot air supplied by burning straw, the spectacular invention soared some hundreds of metres and travelled two to three kilometres in just ten minutes. Three months later, they repeated the performance in the Park of Versailles, before Louis XVI, Marie Antoinette and the assembled royal court of France. Balloon production has greatly improved since that time, but the principle of operation—based on one of the most elementary laws of physics—remains unchanged: being lighter, hot air tends to rise. As it is being filled, the balloon remains anchored to the ground. Then the moorings are then undone allowing the apparatus to rise; the ballast is gradually discarded so that it may ascend higher. This is a beautiful image of the soul’s flight toward God. “Heated’’ by the practice of the virtues, especially charity, it begins its spiritual ascent and starts to “fly”. Yet, as a result of sin, there are moorings that tie it to earth and weights that impede its journey toward perfection. It becomes necessary, then, to cut the one and cast off the other in order for the human spirit to soar toward the transcendent and eternal. Like our body, the soul suffers the harmful effects of a type of spiritual law of gravity by which it feels drawn to what is commonplace, trivial, and demands the least effort. Even for consecrated persons there are moorings and ballast which are at times more difficult to release than those of the simple faithful. If religious fail to correspond to the invitation of grace to live on a higher plane, they can experience a type of vertigo and vehemently cling to earthly things. To help overcome these impediments in religious institutions, the Holy Spirit has raised up various forms of spirituality over time that intensify detachment from material goods. The radicality of some is astonishing. The Theatines, for example, live from alms as many others do, with the difference that their members may not ask for them, but must wait for them to be offered spontaneously.¹ In view of our evil inclinations, Christ taught us that self-denial and abnegation are indispensable in being His true disciples. This is the lesson of this Sunday’s liturgy.  

II – To Hate One’s Father and Mother?

Only a few accompanied the Divine Master at the beginning of His preaching, but soon, the number of his followers grew to form a sizeable contingent. At this point in the Gospel of St. Luke, when He heads to Jerusalem for the last time, it was affirmed that “great multitudes accompanied Jesus.” But not all of them could rightly be called His disciples. As Cardinal Gomá highlights, the multitudes followed Our Lord “perhaps moved by excessively human concerns, possibly anticipating the temporal glory of the Messianic Kingdom.”² Therefore, Jesus addressed them to teach them—and us as well—the true meaning of the Kingdom of Heaven and the conditions for attaining it.

Jesus should be loved with a most perfect love

While some versions of Scripture interpret this passage using the Greek verb μισεω in the sense of “detachment”, the Vulgate prefers to translate the term  μισεῖ with odit (hate), hence the classic formulation of this verse: “If any one comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.”³ How can this requirement of hating one’s closest relatives and even one’s own life be explained in view of the Ten Commandments? Removing all the consequences that a superficial reflection upon it could introduce, does not this verse lead to parricide, fratricide and even suicide? Thus, is not the translation of St. Jerome incorrect, and the result of exaggeration? It does not seem so. On the contrary, the use of the verb hate stresses with didactic emphasis, the deepest meaning of the Master’s words in this context: the need to love God above all things; therefore, to radically detach ourselves even from that which is dearest to us, if this is an obstacle to following Christ, for Jesus is worthy of being loved with a most perfect love, and anyone unprepared, for His sake, to take detachment to the ultimate extremes, will never be His true disciple: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Mt 10:37). In the Summa Theologica, St. Thomas explains that it belongs to the virtue of piety “to pay duty and homage to one’s parents according to the due mode. But it is not the due mode that man should tend to worship his father rather than God. [...] Accordingly, if the worship of one’s parents take one away from the worship of God it would no longer be an act of piety to pay worship to one’s parents to the prejudice of God.”⁴ The invitation to detach oneself “even from his own life” should be interpreted in the same sense, as Balz and Scheider rightly indicate: “The twofold demand of Jesus—the need to hate one’s parents and even oneself, for His sake (Lk 14:26), and of not loving one’s parents more than Him (Mt 10:37)—really means that to follow Jesus, it is necessary to put everything else aside.”⁵

“The enemies will be one’s relatives”

Now, how can father and mother and brother and sister represent obstacles to our salvation? To fittingly answer this question, another passage of the Gospel, related to that which we are commenting on today must be called to mind: “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s foes will be those of his own household” (Mt 10:34-36). Regarding these verses of St. Matthew—even more incisive, under some aspects, than those of St. Luke—Romano Guardini comments: “The message of Jesus is the message of salvation. He proclaims the love of the Father and the coming of the Kingdom. He calls men to peace and unity in goodwill. Nevertheless, His word does not begin by producing union, but rather division. The more deeply Christian a man becomes, the more his life differs from others who do not want to become Christians, or in the measure that they refuse to be so. [...] This is the reason for the division between father and son, friend and friend, or among those who dwell in the same house.”⁶

True meaning of the verb hate

Guardini goes on to astutely add that the requirement to hate our relatives when they draw us away from God “is anti-natural, and awakens the temptation to hold fast to our natural relatives and abandon Jesus.”⁷ It is with the objective of clarifying the need for man to do violence against himself to be a true disciple of Christ, that the Vulgate, St. Thomas, St. Gregory the Great and many other commentators employ the radical term hate: “Gregory expounding this saying of Our Lord says that ‘when we find our parents to be a hindrance in our way to God, we must ignore them by hating and fleeing from them.’ For if our parents incite us to sin, and withdraw us from the service of God, we must, as regards this point, abandon and hate them.”⁸ Therefore, love for sisters and brothers, daughters and sons, father or mother is natural, legitimate and even a duty; but these persons must be repudiated with all our strength, if they impede us from following Christ. Once again, St. Thomas clarifies this: “We are commanded to hate, in our kindred, not their kinship, but only the fact of their being an obstacle between us and God. In this respect they are not akin but hostile to us, according to Micah 7:6: ‘A man’s enemies are they of his own household.’”⁹ And further on he adds: “By the commandment of God (Exodus 20:12) we must honour our parents—as united to us in nature and kinship. But we must hate them in so far as they prove an obstacle to our attaining the perfection of Divine justice.”¹⁰ Thus the matter is placed in its proper balance. And the Holy Church can teach this doctrine with full authority, since it was she who evangelized the pagan peoples and consolidated the fundamental principles of a monogamous and indissoluble family in the world, by its preaching and through the administration of the Sacrament of Marriage, instituted by Our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, women and children were given a place of dignity in society, ending the abuses of the ancient world, such as the “right” of the father to kill his children or the husband to abandon his wife. Therefore, she simultaneously emphasized that everything, even the family, is subject to God’s service and glory. With regard to the verb hate, Fr. Duquesne adds a further clarification “The expression ‘to hate’ does not mean that we should do or desire them evil; but it highlights the ardour, courage and strength with which we must resist them, if they are an impediment to our salvation, drag us into evil, discourage us from assuming the state to which God calls us, if they want to enlist us in that which God has not called us, if they prevent us from embracing the true Faith, and if they make an effort to keep us or introduce us in error.”¹¹ On the contrary, there are numerous examples that show how the support in families toward the sanctification of their members is invaluable, and in a certain sense unsurpassable: St. Monica, whose tears and prayers obtained the conversion of her son; St. Basil the Elder and St. Emilia, parents of St. Basil the Great, St. Gregory of Nyssa, St. Macrina and St. Peter of Sebaste; and Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Family support is invaluable and in a certain sense unsurpassable in attaining holiness
Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, parents of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus (centre, at eight years of age)

The reward will come in eternal glory

These words of Jesus dashed the triumphant hopes held by most Jews regarding the Messianic kingdom. Indeed, in all of His preaching, Our Lord did not offer the fullness of happiness in this life, but rather in eternal glory, the path which passes through self-denial and sacrifice. Per crucem ad lucem (through the Cross to the light), as the famous Latin expression goes. The Apostle clearly outlines the need for sacrifice and mortification, using a particularly vivid example in addressing his followers in Corinth: “Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Well, I do not run aimlessly, I do not box as one beating the air; but I pommel my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor 9:25-27). Also regarding this Gospel verse, a pious reflection of Fr. Duquesne is of value: “Let us compare our cross with that of Jesus Christ and the martyrs, and we will be ashamed of our cowardice!”¹² Therefore, it is not right to carry it unwillingly, complaining of its weight or expressing bitterness due to the sufferings it brings. The one who acts in this way does not carry the cross, but drags it, and as a result, cannot be considered a disciple of the Master. Father Duquesne further adds that to follow Our Lord does not only mean to physically walk behind Him, as many among that multitude did, but rather “to imitate His examples and practice His virtues.”¹³

III – Lucidity and Prudence

Teaching by parables is a constant element in divine didactics. Our Lord uses two at this moment, to show the crowd that following Him does not only demand effort and self-denial, but also lucid planning and careful execution, that is, “prudence and determination in counting the cost that this will entail.”¹⁴ These two images were chosen with divine wisdom—it could not be otherwise—to perfectly illustrate the instruction of the previous verses. In this regard, Maldonado comments: “Christ offers the parables of the tower and the war, in preference to other themes, in order to deal with difficult and costly undertakings—building towers and engaging in warfare—which require diligent preparation.”¹⁵

The calculations of building a tower or engaging in warfare

As Maldonado rightly observed, “to count the cost” means to prepare carefully, taking the time to seek advice. Everyone should do this before choosing a particular path, always in accord with reason and never guided by sentiments or impulses. Even more importantly, it is necessary to decide and act with eternal life in mind rather than merely earthly interests which are transitory by definition. Warring between small states was common in antiquity. Therefore, in this parable, Our Lord presents a common reality to His listeners. Yet man wages the battle for the Kingdom of Heaven under very unfavourable circumstances. Due to fallen nature stemming from original sin, everyone has terrible enemies within: “fleshly lust, the law of sin raging in our members, and various passions.”¹⁶ There is, additionally, the struggle “against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph 6:12). In order to prove this disproportion of forces, St. Augustine interprets the meaning of the parable as follows: “The ten thousand of him who is going to fight with the king who has twenty, signify the simplicity of the Christian about to contend with the subtlety of the devil, namely, his deception and fallacies.”¹⁷

Peace treaty with the Supreme Sovereign

St. Gregory the Great gives this parable an eschatological interpretation, saying that the king who approaches will be He who will come at the end of time to judge the living and the dead.¹⁸ Therefore, from the standpoint of the coming of the Supreme Sovereign, in comparison with whom we are and can do nothing, it is appropriate that we send Him messengers to request peace. These are our guardian angels, our heavenly intercessors and especially Our Lady. Because, as Father Duquesne asks, “who are we to present ourselves before God and have the audacity to negotiate peace with Him? What do we have to offer Him?”¹⁹ As for the conditions for peace, they have been outlined in the first verses of this Gospel passage. To follow the Divine Redeemer it is necessary to renounce everything and embrace the Cross.

The only calculation permitted of the true disciple

In these two parables, Our Lord clearly shows the necessity of counting the cost before embarking on any undertaking, assuming a responsibility or engaging in an earthly battle. Now, in this verse, according to St. Augustine, both meanings are declared, since he affirms that “the cost therefore of building the tower, and the strength of the thousand against the king who has twenty thousand, mean nothing else than that each one should forsake all that he has.”²⁰ And the holy Bishop of Hippo adds: “The foregoing introduction tallies then with the final conclusion. For in saying that a man forsakes all that he has, is contained also that he hates his father and mother, his wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and his own life also. For all these things are a man’s own, which entangle him, and hinder him from obtaining not those particular possessions which will pass away with time, but those common blessings which will abide for ever.”²¹ In conclusion, there is only one way for us to become true disciples of Jesus: to totally renounce all disorderly affections and attachment to earthly goods, so that they will not become like moorings to our spiritual life or weights for our soul. If we fail to fully and completely detach ourselves from all that separates us from Christ, we will not attain the Kingdom of Heaven. It is also important to note, with Cardinal Gomá, that not only clergy and religious, but all the baptized should be disciples of Jesus: “With the examples of the tower and the king, Our Lord did not want to indicate that each one of us is free to be or not to be His disciple, just as the man of the tower was free to lay or not lay the foundations as he wished. He intended to teach us the impossibility of pleasing God amid the things that distract the soul and in which it runs the risk of succumbing due to the cunning of the devil.”²² St. Bede distinguishes between the duty of souls called to consecrated life and the obligation of all the faithful: “There is a difference between renouncing all things and leaving all things. For it is the way of few perfect men to leave all things, that is, to cast behind them the cares of the world, but it is the part of all the faithful to renounce all things, that is, so to hold the things of the world as by them not to be held in the world.”²³

Following Our Lord means imitating His example and practicing His virtues
"Our Lord Carries His Cross with Our Lady and St. Dominic Guzman” by Fra Angelico - Museum of San Mark, Florence

IV – Disorderly Attachments Rob Our Peace of Soul

Today’s Gospel clearly shows how this radical and complete detachment is the cornerstone of our interior life, whether in building a family, being part of the clergy or in being consecrated to God in a religious institute. From this standpoint, we can view the liturgy for the twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time as an invitation to detachment: “Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.” This does not imply that we must be flogged, crowned with thorns or nailed to the cross, as was Our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross which He asks of us is mostly that of being detached from earthly things, just as an eagle who soars unencumbered in the sky better contemplates the sun. As we have so often experienced in life, disorderly attachments produce affliction, doubt and apprehension which rob our peace of soul. Therefore, even those who are not called to religious life should carry out all their actions, including their business dealings and the administration of possessions, with a heart set on God. This detachment is the condition for intimately accompanying Our Lord Jesus Christ. In doing this, the soul will experience true happiness—a foretaste of the joy it will have in Heaven. ◊  

Notes

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¹ Constitutions, art. 26: “We, the Clergy Regular, should live from the Altar and the Gospel, while the faithful spontaneously provide for us, without asking any alms from the laity, either directly or through the intercession of another. All our hope should be placed in the word of Christ the Lord, who says: ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His justice and all these things shall be added unto you.’”

² GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, Isidro. El Evangelio explicado. Barcelona: Casulleras, 1930, v.III, p.283.

³ The two translations are correct, since the Greek verb μισεω, just like its Hebrew equivalent śānā’, encompasses a wide range of meanings from love less and detest, to hate (cf. BALZ, Horst e SCHEIDER, Gerhard (Eds.), Diccionario exegético del Nuevo Testamento. 2.ed. Salamanca: Sígueme, 2002, col.295).

⁴ ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. Summa Theologica, II-II, q.101, a.4, resp.

⁵ BALZ e SCHEIDER, op. cit., col.295.

⁶ GUARDINI, Romano. O Senhor. Rio de Janeiro: Agir, s/d., p.293.

⁷ Idem, ibidem.

⁸ ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, op. cit., II-II, q.101, a.4, ad.1.

⁹ Idem, II-II, q.26, a.7, ad.1.

¹⁰ Idem, II-II, q.34, a.3, ad.1.

¹¹ DUQUESNE. L’Évangile médité. Lyon-Paris: Perisse Frères, 1849, v.III, p.104.

¹² Idem, p.106.

¹³ Idem, ibidem.

¹⁴ GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, op. cit., p.282.

¹⁵ MALDONADO, SJ, Juan de. Comentarios a los cuatro Evangelios. Evangelios de San Marcos y San Lucas. Madrid: BAC, 1951, v.II, p.642.

¹⁶ ST. CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA. Commentaria in Lucam¸ sermo 105: PG 72, 796.

¹⁷ ST. AUGUSTINE. Quæstiones Evangeliorum, l.2, c.31: PL 35, 1343.

¹⁸ Cf. ST. GREGORY THE GREAT. Homiliarum in Evangelia, hom. 37, c. 6: PL 76, 1277-1278.

¹⁹ DUQUESNE, op. cit., p.119.

²⁰ ST. AUGUSTINE, apud ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Catena Aurea.

²¹ Idem.

²² GOMÁ Y TOMÁS, op. cit., p.285.

²³ ST. BEDE, apud ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, Catena Aurea.