Hate your Parents? What?

The gospel today has an interesting quote from Jesus about the need to hate our parents to become a disciple. Can he possible mean that? The commandments tell us to honor our father and mother. Nothing in the gospels indicates Jesus did not love his mother. The gospel makes much more sense when we understand that the word hate in the Greek world was used as hyperbole to make the main point clear: to be a disciple is very hard work.

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Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

Homily for the 23rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, September 8, 2019, at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, University City, Missouri.

The gospel today has an interesting quote from Jesus about the need to hate our parents to become a disciple. Can he possible mean that? The commandments tell us to honor our father and mother. Nothing in the gospels indicates Jesus did not love his mother. The gospel makes much more sense when we understand that the word hate in the Greek world was used as hyperbole to make the main point clear: to be a disciple is very hard work.

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