Jack Benny, the comedian who prided himself as a miser of money, was accosted by a robber:
"Your money or your life!"

To which Benny replied: “Hmmm . . . let me think about that!"

Today Jesus makes RADICAL DEMANDS FOR DISCIPLESHIP.

Also today, Mother Theresa is canonized.
She probably came closer to meeting those demands than anyone could.

So do you hate your own life?
Of course not. 

In another passage Jesus tells us if our eye “scandalizes you, tear it out.”

Really?
No! He is trying to get our attention.

Through all the din His first hearers were surrounded with and the noise we are immersed in
. . .  think for a moment: the Gospel we just heard took one minute to read!

Think of all the noise it competes with:
All the commercials;
All the music piped into our ears;
All the talk radio that tells us the world is going to hell in a hand basket;
All the TV clamor.

So today Jesus gets our attention.
He wants to show us that following Him is not easy; that taking up His cross is hard.

Mother Theresa has shown us a radical response to His demands.
May we follow as best we can her radical response.