And there went
great multitudes with him. And turning, he said to them:
If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and
children, and brethren, and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot
be my disciple. And whosoever doth not carry his cross and come after me,
cannot be my disciple. For which of you having a mind to build a tower, doth
not first sit down, and reckon the charges that are necessary, whether he
have wherewithal to finish it: Lest, after he hath laid the foundation, and
is not able to finish it, all that see it begin to mock him, Saying: This
man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Or what king, about to go to make war against another king, doth not first
sit down, and think whether he be able, with ten thousand, to meet him that,
with twenty thousand, cometh against him? Or else, whilst the other is yet
afar off, sending an embassy, he desireth conditions of peace.
So likewise every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth,
cannot be my disciple. Salt is good. But if the salt shall lose its savour,
wherewith shall it be seasoned? It is neither profitable for the land nor
for the dunghill, but shall be cast out. He that hath ears to hear, let him
hear.
Commentary
Be aware that the
Douay footnotes explains the use of "hate" here as follows:
The law of Christ
does not allow us to hate even our enemies, much less our parents: but the
meaning of the text is, that we must be in that disposition of soul, as to
be willing to renounce, and part with every thing, how near or dear soever
it may be to us, that would keep us from following Christ.
In other words,
and as should be obvious, we are not to literally "hate" our parents, spouses,
and children; we are, though, to order our dealings with them such that our
love for them is true love -- i.e., love rooted in Truth, which is to say,
rooted in Christ first.
