This Sunday, Jesus speaks words that startle: “If anyone comes to me without hating… even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” But this isn’t a call to bitterness—it’s a call to radical love. A love so deep, so consuming, that it reorders everything.
The Gospel invites us to count the cost of discipleship—not with fear, but with freedom. To carry our cross is to let go of what burdens the soul and weighs down the mind. It’s the kind of detachment that opens us to receive what God longs to give: wisdom from on high, paths made straight, and a love that transforms slaves into brothers.
Saint Paul, writing from prison, calls himself “a prisoner for Christ Jesus.” Not with regret, but with joy. Because when we surrender everything, we find ourselves held by a love that never fades.
So today, let’s ask: What weighs us down? What are we clinging to that keeps us from walking freely with Christ? The Lord doesn’t ask for scraps of our affection—He asks for everything. And in return, He gives us true freedom and an everlasting inheritance.
Let us number our days aright. Let us prosper the work of our hands. And let us walk the narrow path, unburdened, ablaze with love.
Smitten With Goodness 