In this weekend’s passage from the Holy Gospel, Jesus is quite blunt about what it’s going to cost to be His disciple. He speaks in terms of “hating” our parents, siblings etc…of carrying the cross…and of renouncing all of our possessions if we want to follow Him. Whoa!!! Does He mean this? Well, yes and no! In today’s Gospel, Jesus lays out four straight-forward conditions for true Christian discipleship: renouncing too much attachment to family, and giving priority to God and His commandments …breaking off the excessive attachment to the possessions we have by leading a “detached life,” willingly sharing our blessings with others…accepting the hard consequences of discipleship which might include daily sacrificial service to others…and calculating the cost involved in following Jesus. Using the two parables of the tower-builder and the king defending his country, Jesus tells us to think long and hard about Christian discipleship before we commit to it. The words Jesus uses to extend this message to us are strong, that’s for sure. That leads me to believe that He wants us to REALLY “listen up” to this message. Being a disciple of Jesus involves more than just showing up once a week for an hour in church. It demands a giving, undivided heart EVERY DAY. How do we do this and where do we start? We take on the challenge of Christian discipleship by: daily recharging our spiritual batteries through prayer, that is, by talking to God, and by listening to Him…by sharing in God’s life through frequent and active participation in the Eucharist…by practicing the spirit of detachment from our worldly possessions (not necessarily by giving them away, but by using them for the good of others and the world)…by giving our time, talents, and resources generously for the Lord’s work in our parish and community…by loving all God’s children, not just the ones that are attractive to us…and by showing true commitment to the obligations and duties entrusted to us. Oh, is that all?!!!! I think that the message of Jesus is “right on.” Being a true disciple is not so easy…but it is very rewarding! What do you think? Are you ready to give your heart to it? Each Fall, a lot of young boys aspire to become football players. But only a few will find their way onto the high school or university teams. Every year a coach challenges the hopefuls, explaining the cost involved: “Your muscles will ache from calisthenics. We'll run you till you think you can run no more. We will drill you and drill you, then drill you again, every day, after school. There'll be no drugs, no alcohol. Only if you work hard will you make the team. If you don't, you won't.” The personal, economic, and emotional cost of becoming an Olympic or professional athlete is still higher. Young children spend hours a day practicing their skills and submitting themselves to rigorous programs of diet and exercise to become great gymnasts or dancers. Others accept the cost of dedicating years to study and hard work to become outstanding doctors or lawyers or scientists or writers. In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges his would-be followers to calculate the cost in following him, accept the pain and suffering involved in following him as true disciples. GOSPEL QUESTION OF THE WEEK: How would you evaluate your commitment to being a Christian on a scale of 1 to 10?