I recently watched one of John Candy’s classic movies: Only the Lonely.  For those who may have never seen the film before, its about a middle age Chicago police officer who lives with his mother and takes care of her.  She isn’t sick or anything, just an elderly widow, and her good Irish son is just too guilty to leave her and start his own life.  Well, as you can imagine, he eventually meets a girl, falls in love, and now his life is moving in a direction that ends his current unhealthy relationship with his mother.  I hate to give away a good ending but I need to for my homily, John Candy’s character is going to marry the woman until his unhealthy attachment to his mother gets a little out of hand and his fiancé calls off the wedding until he feels he can choose to love his fiancé as much as he loves his mother.  It should be obvious that no John Candy movie would end on a sad note, he eventually leaves his mother, gets back the girl, and they all live happily ever after.  

    This film is exactly what Jesus is talking about in our Gospel today.  Jesus isn’t saying that we need to hate our families to be disciples; rather, Jesus is saying that we can’t let anything or anyone hold us back from being a disciple.  If we have a family member that is holding us back from being a disciple, we have to remove ourselves from that relationship.  I have been very fortunate to have parents and a family that supported my vocation to the priesthood from day one.  Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, especially the parents of an only child.  For some single parents, it’s hard to let their son or daughter go once they have a spouse.  For discipleship, many people hate the Catholic Church, some people hate Jesus, and they will not support you in your ongoing formation and dedication to being a disciple of Jesus.  Those are the people we need to rid ourselves of so that we can freely give our whole selves to the Lord.  

    The same is true with our possessions.  Today, the Holy Father is canonizing Mother Teresa, a woman who literally gave up all her possessions and left her family to serve the poorest of the poor in India.  As beautiful as that is, the Lord is not calling all of us to do that.  But he is calling us to rid ourselves of possessions that keep us from being disciples.  Possessions like expensive cars or technology we don’t need to have but want them because it makes us feel and/or look important.  Possessions that are linked to sinful behavior like pornography and possessions that we are, or can become, addicted to like alcohol and drugs.  These are things all of us are called to give up to be disciples of Jesus.  

    My brothers and sisters, discipleship looks like something.  It looks like St. Mother Teresa leaving her family and possessions to serve the poorest of the poor; discipleship looks like a man who is willing to give up anything or anyone for the love of his life; discipleship looks like you and I gathered here this morning to worship our Lord and give Him thanks for the blessings we have all received.  The test of our discipleship comes once we leave these sacred walls; will we be changed people after receiving the Body and Blood of our Lord by becoming Him who we have received and seeing our Lord in everyone we meet?  Or will we act like the same people we were when we walked into Church this morning?  Will we return to our homes, schools, and workplaces with the same sins of judgment, hypocrisy, lying, and anger on Tuesday?  Or will we be vehicles of God’s love and share that love with everyone we meet?  

    Today, Jesus is giving us the opportunity once again to start anew.  Look into your heart and at your life and see what and/ or who is holding you back from becoming a disciple of Jesus.  It’s the start of a new academic year and whether you’re a student or not, use this beautiful season and time of year to start anew.  Don’t wait for Advent, New Years, or even Lent to start anew.  Begin today!  Use this Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to commit yourself to being a disciple of Jesus and ridding yourself of those things and people who will keep you from following Jesus.  Start with the sins and the things that cause you to sin, go to Confession, and go from there.  You’re not alone in this, Jesus is with you, and the Parish is here to support you.