Do you have what it takes to be a disciple? Don’t panic: You don’t have to “hate” your family. Though Jesus’ words sound as strong then as they do now, see them in terms of the rest of what he says in the gospel passage, the big message of which is: Measure your resources before starting on something, like a king contemplating giving battle or a builder sizing up whether he can afford to complete a structure.

Today is Grandparents Day, an observance signed into existence by President Jimmy Carter in 1978. It took almost a decade of lobbying by several people convinced of the significance of elders in their own lives to get Grandparents Day on the calendar.

ONE DAY when large groups of people were walking along with him, Jesus turned and told them, “Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters—yes, even one’s own self!—can’t be my disciple. Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

COMMITMENT to anything by today’s standards often means you will more than likely run into distractions. They can come in the form of people, work, or material possessions. It is not easy to follow God with so many things buzzing around our world and drawing your attention away.

Brothers and sisters, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.

God shows mercy, even to the “worst”: idolaters and the blasphemer. To human ears, though, that doesn’t make sense. We’re probably used to knowing the “correct” answers to Jesus’ questions of “what man among you” and “what woman”: Find the lost sheep; search high and low for the lost coin, right?

Do we recognize the Jesus who says, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, he cannot be my disciple”? The words seem harsh in comparison to the soothing invitation of the Good Shepherd.

Our possessions are not ours—God has given them to us to cultivate, that we may make them fruitful and profitable in his service. —Saint Francis de Sales