From the Gospel according to Luke

14:25-33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
“If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple.”

To Triumph in the Battle

A disciple is one who follows the Master so as to have His very heart, and thus to be able to act like Him, live like Him, love like Him. We are wounded by sin and do not know how to love. Even when we try, on our own we cannot. We must first be filled with the love of God, so that our heart may begin to resemble that of Jesus. Then I shall be able to love my husband, my father, mother, children, brothers and sisters, and so forth. That is why the Lord tells us that if we wish to love as He loves, we must first follow Him, carrying our cross. He will give us what we need in order to triumph in the battles against sin.

Brought into Married Life:

(Claire comes home and once again finds everything left in a mess and unclean.)

Claire: Once again everything’s been left lying around… no doubt each one is in their own room doing what they want. (But as she goes to look for her children to scold them, she stops and thinks: I don’t believe this is the right moment to start a war; I shall place myself in the Lord’s hands. She withdraws to her room to pray.)

Claire: Lord, I am weary of the same thing day after day. Yet I know that You are at my side. I shall seek a passage where You show me how to act. (She opens the Gospels and comes upon the passage of the Passion where Jesus looks at Peter after his denial. She reflects on what that look must have been — the gaze of Jesus each time we deny Him and give way to our passions… At that moment Peter arrives.)

Peter: Hello, darling!

Claire: Hello, my love! You know, I feel truly blessed to have you as my husband, to have this family, and above all because the Lord watches over us each day and teaches me how to love and to feel loved by Him.

Peter: I love coming home! Since we did the retreat, everything has changed, and I can see in your eyes the love of God.

Claire: It is a great grace indeed that He has granted us: that we have discovered how He loves us, and so may strive to love like Him in every circumstance of our life.

Peter: Only He can make this possible. Let us continue to trust. I love you, my wife.

Mother,

Do not allow us to turn aside from this way to which You have called us, that You might teach us how to love. Glory be to God!