“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.”

luke 14:27

Luke 14:25-33

Reflection

Jesus tells the crowds that in order for them to be his disciples, they must hate their family and carry their own cross, otherwise they cannot come after him. He compares discipleship to constructing a tower, where people calculate the cost before building.

Jesus doesn’t want us to literally hate our family in order to follow him, but we must set Christ as our priority in this life. We can’t carry our cross of discipleship if we have other baggage weighing us down. Christ requires all of us, not just part.

He wants us to live out our vocation, which looks different for every person. Our individual crosses can come from our vocation, but we still need to remember to keep Jesus at the center. How can you place Jesus at the center of your life today?

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Saint of the Day

St. Cloud: AD 522 – 560

St. Cloud was the grandson of a king and ended up becoming a monk. He lived in a forest as a hermit and people traveled to visit him because of his miracles, but he eventually founded a community of monks and was known for being generous to the poor. St. Cloud, pray for us!