{"id":222,"date":"2013-09-07T22:23:00","date_gmt":"2013-09-07T22:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html"},"modified":"2016-03-25T18:26:12","modified_gmt":"2016-03-25T23:26:12","slug":"builder-king-and-cross","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html","title":{"rendered":"Builder, King and Cross"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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What does sitting down to calculate how much money is needed to build a tower have to do with renouncing possessions and following Jesus? \u00a0What does a king knowing how many men he needs to defeat his enemy have to do with carrying the cross?<\/p>\n

While urging his disciples to renounce all their possessions, to carry the cross and to detach completely from their mothers, fathers, children, brothers, sisters and their own lives, Jesus gives as worthy examples a builder buying materials to build a tower and a king gathering troops to go to war. \u00a0At first glance Jesus\u2019 references to the builder and the king seem out of place in the Gospel of Saint Luke since they are sandwiched in between a call by Jesus to radical discipleship.<\/p>\n

Through these two simple images Jesus teaches his followers a great lesson. \u00a0In the same way a builder should begin construction work with full knowledge of the task he is starting and in the same way a king should be aware of his strength before battle, all disciples of Jesus must be aware of what their discipleship will entail.<\/p>\n

The builder knows before he starts working what challenges constructing a tower will bring, so he prepares accordingly. \u00a0It would be absurd for him to complain that the project took too many bricks; he should have known from the start how many bricks he would need. \u00a0In the same way a king should not be surprised by the outcome of the battle if he prepared appropriately.<\/p>\n

Jesus clearly teaches us that being his disciple will require the carrying of the cross. \u00a0We should prepare accordingly and appropriately. \u00a0We should not be caught unprepared nor should we complain when the cross gets heavy since the Master has been clear from the beginning as to what following him will entail.
\nOne who complains about the challenges of living out the radical demands of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is like an irresponsible builder or an unprepared king. \u00a0He or she did not understand before starting what discipleship would demand.<\/p>\n

As the builder gathers materials and the king enlists men, Christians must gather opportunities for grace that the Lord gives. \u00a0It is through the sacraments, prayer and faithfulness that a disciple of Christ prepares for the journey. \u00a0It is through these encounters with Jesus that we prepare for the Christian journey of discipleship.<\/p>\n

Pictures are mine, all rights reserved<\/p>\n

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What does sitting down to calculate how much money is needed to build a tower have to do with renouncing possessions and following Jesus? \u00a0What does a king knowing how many men he needs to defeat his enemy have to do with carrying the cross? While urging his disciples to renounce all their possessions, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nBuilder, King and Cross<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What does sitting down to calculate how much money is needed to build a tower have to do with renouncing possessions and following Jesus? \u00a0What does a\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Builder, King and Cross\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What does sitting down to calculate how much money is needed to build a tower have to do with renouncing possessions and following Jesus? \u00a0What does a\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-07T22:23:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-03-25T23:26:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/files\/3.bp.blogspot.com\/-dIRVbY7Iolc\/VldnrBzQkII\/AAAAAAAAEZ8\/FrFIa8DU6nQ\/s320\/DSC05882.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html\",\"name\":\"Builder, King and Cross\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-09-07T22:23:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-03-25T23:26:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"What does sitting down to calculate how much money is needed to build a tower have to do with renouncing possessions and following Jesus? \u00a0What does a\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2013\/09\/builder-king-and-cross.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Builder, King and Cross\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. 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