Preparation for Sunday mass: Luke 14:25 - 33

Great crowds were traveling with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.’ Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops? But if not, while he is still far away, he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms. In the same way, anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple.”

Questions for adults:

- What does Jesus mean when he says that in order to be his disciples we must hate our family and our own life? Can our own family and our love of this life be an obstacle to our being a disciple of Jesus?

- How do we make important decisions in life? Do we sit down and try to understand the consequences before we begin to take action?

- How can possessions be an obstacle to following Jesus?

Questions for children:

- Surely we love our mothers and fathers, our brothers and sisters and our own life. Can this love we have for them sometimes mean that it is more difficult to follow Jesus?

- Why should we think before we act? What might happen if we act without thinking about the consequences of our actions?

- Can the things I own stand in the way of following Jesus?