In this commentary on the Gospel, Friar Luciano Audisio Luciano Audisio leads us to the demands of Christian discipleship: a radical following that involves taking up one’s cross, recognizing God as the absolute center and living faith as a spiritual construction and combat.
The radical following of Jesus
This Sunday’s Gospel poses an essential question: when we begin to follow Jesus, does he let us act according to our own judgment or does he ask us to make a concrete, radical decision? At the beginning, approaching Him may seem simple, but there comes a moment when the Lord invites us to take a leap of quality in our relationship with Him, a leap that often makes us fearful.
The gesture of Jesus: a God with a face
The passage is placed in the context of the great ascent of Jesus towards Jerusalem. And there, in the midst of the crowd, something decisive happens: the evangelist tells us that Jesus “turned back”(στραφεὶς). That gesture encloses a great meaning.
Until that moment the multitude saw him with their backs turned, like Moses who could only contemplate God with his back turned. It happens to us too: many times we discover God’s presence only when we reread our history and understand that He was there, even though we had not recognized Him.
But this “becoming” of Jesus introduces a radical novelty: suddenly God is no longer a vague longing or a diffuse energy. He has a face, he is a concrete person: Jesus Christ.
“Faith is not a set of rules or a theory about the world; faith is a personal relationship, an encounter of love, a walk with someone alive.”
Putting God at the center
That is why Jesus, on his way to Jerusalem, explains to us the price of this relationship. He does so in a strong, even provocative way: “If anyone comes to me and does not hate (μισεῖ) his father, his mother, his wife, his children, his brothers, and even himself, he cannot be my disciple.”
The Greek verb sounds harsh, but in the Semitic language it means to contrast, to choose. Jesus does not invite us to despise our loved ones, but to remember that no human relationship, however beautiful and profound, can take the place of God.
“Deus semper maior, God is always greater.”
Loving beyond oneself
After these fundamental relationships, Jesus mentions something even more radical: “he who loves only his own life”. The Greek term used is ψυχὴ, which refers to interiority, to the deepest part of our being.
Yes, it is natural to take care of ourselves, to seek our own security, but the danger lies in absolutizing this search until we become the center of the world and use others for our own convenience. Faith, on the other hand, takes us out of this confinement: it teaches us to lose this false balance in order to find true love.
Carrying one’s own cross
And here appears the word that crowns the whole passage: “to carry one’s own cross”.
It is not a question of carrying Jesus’ cross, but our own, with those realities that cost us the most: our weaknesses, what we do not accept about ourselves, what we are ashamed of.
“Jesus does not ask us to be perfect in order to follow Him; He asks us to present ourselves with our cross, embrace it and walk with Him.”
Only in this way will we discover that pain and fragility can be transformed into a place of encounter with God.
Construction and combat: two images of faith
The Gospel concludes with two images: faith is like building a tower building a tower and like preparing for combat. Both express the dynamism of the Christian life.
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Faith builds our existence as a solid tower, a home open to others.
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Faith is also a struggle: a fight against everything that opposes our growth, against fears, doubts, temptations to live centered on ourselves.
The mystics remind us that this battle lasts until the last breath.
Condition of discipleship: to give up everything
Both construction and combat have one condition: the courage to leave everything behind. It is not a matter of despising the gifts of life, but of preventing them from becoming idols that take the place of God.
Faith is a liberation from our slavery, a path to true freedom.
Conclusion
Following Christ is not easy. It requires decision, renunciation and courage. But it is also the only way to live in fullness.
“He invites us today to put him at the center, to take up our cross, to let his love be greater than any other bond.”
And then, yes, our life will become a solid tower and a victory in the combat of the Spirit.