It is obvious that the work of building requires knowledge and skill. And it demands also planning, if the venture is to be successful. Planning that involves not only the intervention of an architect but also the sound evaluation of the means of the owner – will he be able to afford the cost involved?
The gospel text of this Sunday (23rd, Year C – Lk. 14:25-33) reminds us of this important prerequisite. But Jesus speaks of this as an example for something more important still. He does not refer only to the building of a tower and its possible cost but of something else – the cost of discipleship.
We are called to become aware of what it means to be a follower of Christ. What is involved in being a Christian. We must be committed to building something, yes, something not made of bricks or mortar but as real and as solid: building a life of companionship with the Lord. And, we must be aware that this can be costly, indeed very costly at times…
This entails first of all that the focus of our life is on God’s will, we set ourselves to know his intentions, as the first reading reminds us in the Book of Wisdom (Wis.13:9-18).
It also means that we do not allow anything nor anyone to come between God and us. Simply said: our possessions and our relations, even the people closest to us, must not be ‘god’ for us.
That will sometimes take the shape of… a cross, a cross that we must carry walking in the footsteps of Christ.
There is a price to pay for being God’s friend but then… he, himself, paid the price for us to become his friends in the first place! The theological word for this is: ‘Redemption’…