Sunday the 7th of September 2025 - Twenty-Third Sunday in Ordinary Time

Wisdom 9:13-18b/ Ps 90(89)/ Philemon 9b-10, 12-17/ Luke 14:25-33

The saints give us examples of how to live a Christian life. In some cases they have lived heroic lives in the face of opposition to their faith, in others they have lived relatively simple lives but displaying a deep faith and commitment to God. There are several saints that I look to regularly and seek their intercession on my behalf, one of these is Saint Thomas More. I was ordained deacon on the day that Saint Thomas is commemorated by the Church which was not specifically planned but it meant a lot to me. When I was at primary school we were taken to the local cinema to see a film that had just been released. A Man for All Seasons was a film adaption of a book by the same name telling of the final years of the life of Thomas More. He was a man of extraordinary gifts: a brilliant lawyer, writer, and statesman who rose to become Lord Chancellor of England under his friend King Henry VIII. He was also a devoted husband and father, but when faced with a choice between loyalty to his king and fidelity to his conscience and faith, Thomas chose God.

When Henry VIII declared himself head of the Church in England and demanded that Thomas sign the Oath of Supremacy, Thomas refused. He could not in good conscience place the king's authority above that of the Church. Despite his imprisonment in the Tower of London, despite pleas from his beloved family, despite the deterioration of his health, Thomas remained steadfast. For fifteen months, he endured isolation, deprived of books and writing materials. He was executed for treason in 1535. His final words proclaimed that he died "the King's good servant, but God's first." To his daughter Margaret, he said, "Pray for me, as I will for thee, that we may merrily meet in Heaven."

Thomas More is the example of what Jesus means when he speaks of counting the cost of discipleship. Thomas counted the cost, his position, his freedom, his relationships with family, and ultimately his life, and decided that loyalty to God came first and was worth it.

The readings today present us with the challenges that face us as we try to live out our call to be disciples of Jesus with the requirement for total commitment to the will of God, always putting God first in our lives. This might feel too hard to contemplate, how can we turn our backs on family and friends to serve God first? The message from Jesus is a hard one, there is no route to easy discipleship, we cannot compromise our relationship with God to have an easy life. Sometimes tough decisions will be demanded of us. Jesus showed us the way as he accepted the will of God in the Garden of Gethsemani the night before he surrendered to death on the cross. Thomas More and numerous other martyrs give witness to discipleship by surrendering their earthly lives so that they can win their eternal ones. What point is there in clinging on to our short earthly lives and relationships if we lose them for eternity? Thomas More was convinced that he would be reunited with his beloved daughter and family in the life to come even as he surrendered his life here.

What do we take away from our readings for today? They remind us that authentic discipleship requires a deliberate choice. Jesus doesn't want half-hearted followers who haven't considered what it means to follow him. He wants disciples who have counted the cost and chosen him above all else. We are challenged to examine our priorities. What comes first in our lives, our careers, our possessions, our relationships, our personal comfort? Or is Jesus and God’s will for us truly at the centre of our lives? We are called to carry our crosses daily. Each of us have different crosses to bear, illness, difficult relationships, financial struggles, moral dilemmas. Whatever those crosses might be, Jesus calls us to take them up willingly and join him as part of our discipleship.

The saints, such as Thomas More, show us that this radical discipleship is possible. They were not superhuman, they were ordinary people who made an extraordinary commitment to God. Thomas More did not set out to be a martyr, he simply resolved to follow his conscience being faithful to God in every decision, every day, until his faithfulness ultimately led him to surrender totally to God’s will. Few of us will face martyrdom as Thomas More and many others did, but all of us face daily choices where we must decide whether God truly comes first. Do we stand up for our faith when it seems unpopular, do we prioritise prayer and Sunday Mass over other activities, do we make ethical choices in our work and relationships, even when it has a cost?

Jesus calls us to radical discipleship but gives us the grace to live it out. In the Eucharist, Holy Communion, we receive not a symbol but Christ himself, the one who gave everything for us and now empowers us to give everything for him. May we be given the wisdom to count the cost of following Jesus and the courage to choose God before anything or anyone else. As Saint Thomas More did, may we be God’s good servants first, and one day, merrily meet in Heaven.

God Bless Brendan.