Readings

Romans 13.8–10 – Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet’; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Luke 14.25–33 – Large crowds were travelling with Jesus; and he turned and said to them, ‘Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself, cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not first sit down and estimate the cost, to see whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to ridicule him, saying, “This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, going out to wage war against another king, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to oppose the one who comes against him with twenty thousand? If he cannot, then, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for the terms of peace. So therefore, none of you can become my disciple if you do not give up all your possessions.’

Reflection

In our reading from St Paul’s Letter to the Romans, we hear some of the most beautiful and concise words in all of Scripture:

“Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”

Love, Paul tells us, is the heart of the Christian life. All the commandments—do not steal, do not murder, do not covet—are summed up in this one word: love. Love is the debt that can never be fully repaid, because it is the very essence of who God is and what God asks of us.

But then we turn to the Gospel reading from Luke, and the tone seems altogether different. Jesus says,

“Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, and even life itself—cannot be my disciple.”

At first hearing, it sounds shocking—almost as if Jesus were contradicting everything Paul has said about love. How can the same Lord who calls us to love our neighbour also call us to “hate” our family?

The word translated here as “hate” is not about hostility or bitterness. Jesus is not commanding us to despise those we love most. Rather, he is using strong, even startling language to make a profound point: that our love for him must come first—before every other attachment, every relationship, every possession, even before our own life.

It’s not that we are to love others less, but that we are to love Jesus more.

In other words, Jesus is talking about love too—love of the deepest, truest kind. He is saying that if we want to follow him, we must love him so completely that every other love finds its rightful place beneath it. The love we have for family, for friends, for all those dearest to us, is not rejected but purified and strengthened when our love for Christ comes first.

This is what the first commandment means: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind.” Jesus, as God’s Son and representative, calls us to that same all-consuming love. Nothing less will do—for God or for God’s Son.

It’s a hard saying, but also a hopeful one. Because Jesus doesn’t ask us to love in this way without first loving us himself. He who calls us to give up everything for him has already given up everything for us. He has borne the cross, surrendered his life, and shown us that in losing all for love, we gain everything that truly matters.

And so, when we put him first—when we choose to love him above all else—we find that we do not lose our family, our friends, or our lives, but receive them back renewed, enriched, and blessed. The love of Christ does not diminish our human loves; it perfects them.

Paul’s words and Jesus’ words, then, are not in conflict but in harmony. The love that fulfils the law and the love that demands everything are one and the same love—the love of God poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.

And so, we end with hope: for all who respond to Christ’s call to love, however falteringly, will find that his generosity far exceeds our giving. The Lord never leaves us empty-handed. Those who give their hearts to him will find, as he promised earlier in the Gospel of Luke, that they receive “a good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over.”

May God grant us grace to love Christ above all, and in that love to find life in all its fullness.

Amen.