Bishop Enrique Díaz Díaz shares with Exaudi readers his reflection on the Gospel of this Sunday, September 7, 2025, entitled:  “Whoever does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

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Wisdom 9, 13-19:  “Who is the man who can know the counsels of God?”

Psalm 89:  “You are, Lord, our refuge”

Philemon 9-10, 12-17: “Receive him, not as a slave, but as a beloved brother”

Luke 14:25-33:  “Whoever does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple”

It’s surprising how freely Pope Francis denounced Christian styles that bear little resemblance to true disciples of Jesus. He called them “Christians with good manners but bad morals,” “museum believers,” “hypocrites of casuistry,” “Christians incapable of living against the current,” “corrupt Christians” who only think of themselves, “educated Christians” who don’t proclaim the Gospel…

If we are asked if we want to follow Jesus, we can all answer yes. Because the Church requires very little to be considered a Christian: newborns are baptized with a few requirements; at most, attendance at some preparatory talks and a vague commitment to act as Christians, raising the child according to God’s law and the commandments of the Church. But in the beginning, with Jesus, it wasn’t like that. To be a disciple, Jesus set such clear conditions that they led anyone who wanted to be one to seriously consider it. Few would be Christians if, to do so, we had to fulfil the three conditions that, when necessary, Jesus demands of his disciples. We say we take up Jesus’ cross, but we adapt it to our own way and style. One can be a Christian and lie; one can be a Christian and be unfair to one’s brother. No one questions whether we are Christians and engage in drugs or alcohol. One can be a Christian and defame, destroy, and deceive. Christians lie, steal, have abortions, and turn their backs on their brothers and sisters. We make our own cross, an “easy,” accommodating, “small” cross.

At most, we understand the suffering of life as a cross, and we endure it as best we can; or we also understand the work and dedication of each day as a cross, even if we do it half-heartedly and reluctantly. We endure our husband or wife because there’s no other choice; it’s the cross that fell to us, and we can’t “throw it away.” There are people who think that carrying the cross and following the Crucified One is seeking small mortifications, depriving ourselves of satisfactions and renouncing legitimate joys in order to reach, through suffering, a deeper communion with Him. When the Gospel tells us to take up the cross, it’s not referring specifically to these crosses, although it’s legitimate for us to take them up, and they can help us follow Him. Jesus speaks of something much deeper than wearing a cross around our neck, made to our measure and taste. Jesus invites everyone, up to three times, to make a radical choice for Him, to take up the cross and renounce everything; otherwise, we cannot be His disciples. Jesus presents us with three demands as extreme cases that give us an idea of ​​how important it is to follow his path.

The first is preferring Jesus to family. The disciple must be willing to subordinate everything to adherence to the Master. If, in the pursuit of establishing the reign of God, the gospel and the family conflict, so that the latter impedes the establishment of the former, adherence to Jesus takes precedence. Jesus and his plan to create a new society, distinct from the worldly system, are above family ties.

The second, taking up the cross to be a disciple, is not about making sacrifices or mortifying oneself, as was previously said, but about accepting and assuming that adherence to Jesus entails persecution and incomprehension on the part of society, persecution that must be accepted and endured as a consequence of following him. Therefore, there is no need to rush, lest we promise to do more than we can accomplish. The example of the construction of the tower, which requires careful planning to calculate the materials available, or of the king who hastily plans the battle, without sitting down to study his possibilities against the enemy, is sufficiently illustrative.

The third condition, renouncing everything in order to be a disciple, seems excessive to us. As if giving absolute preference to Jesus’ plan and being willing to suffer persecution for it were not enough, Jesus demands something that seems beyond our strength: renouncing everything we have. This is, without a doubt, an extreme formulation that must be understood. The disciple must even be willing to renounce everything he or she has, if this is an obstacle to putting an end to an unjust society in which some hoard the earth’s goods that others need to survive. The other always has priority. What is one’s own ceases to be one’s when another needs it. Only from detachment can we speak of justice; only from poverty can we fight against it. Only from there can we build the new society, the Kingdom of God, eradicating injustice from the earth.

For those of us who often take the sting out of the Gospel and wish Jesus’ words and attitudes were less radical, reading this text is difficult, for the Nazarene Master is tremendously demanding. Let us not delude ourselves: have we made a soft cross in our own way? Have we softened Christianity until it becomes a bland and uncommitted religion?

Choosing the cross of Jesus is not choosing passive suffering or indifference to circumstances we can change. It is choosing life even at the risk of encountering setbacks and problems. It is dying on the cross to hope in the Resurrection.

Good Father, help us hear Jesus’ invitation to take up his cross and give us the courage and love to leave everything for his sake and follow him effectively. Amen.