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Gospel Reading for November 05, 2025 – Luke 14: 25-33
GOD ALONE
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, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”
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Of course, Jesus does not mean we have to hate our parents, spouse, children, siblings and our own life in the sense that we understand hate. Jesus cannot tell us that Love for God and neighbor are the greatest commandments and then tell us to hate others. Jesus was using hyperbole as a rhetorical device that means, to be able to follow Jesus, we need to be DETACHED from worldly things, and even from people we love or are important to us. To be detached from worldly things may be easy to understand, but to be detached from people we love or are important to us, may not be easy to understand. How can we be detached from those we love and are important to us?
It will be easier to understand this if we look at the opposite – ATTACHMENT. ATTACHMENT is more of a profound feeling that binds us to a person, wealth, positions of power, etc., such that if we have to make a choice for Christ, these will be greatly affected, and they will become obstacles in following Jesus.
When we come to think of it, one of the things that makes life complicated and burdensome is our ATTACHMENT to people and things. We cannot let go because if we do, a part of us also has to go. Have we ever wondered why the death of a loved one, the loss of things we possess, the inability to retain positions of power, etc. are very painful and make us suffer?We have to make a distinction between loving a person and being attached to the person. When we love a person, we want what’s best for them. When we are attached, we want them for ourselves. Life is fleeting, and we cannot bring to the next life the things we possess. Positions of power are opportunities to serve others. We can always be of service to others without being in a position of power, and so on and so forth.
If there is one ATTACHMENT that will benefit all of us, it is being attached to GOD ALONE. Why? Because when we are attached to God, we become the very best version of ourselves. He is our Creator and the giver of all good things, so we have nothing to let go and we have everything to gain.
As St. Teresa of Avila said: “SOLO DIOS BASTA!” (God Alone Suffices; God Alone is Enough; God Alone Fills us; Only God Satisfies.)
Lord, may we always see and decide on what really matters in life!
