Speaking of priorities...

This reading from Luke, 14:25-33, seems particularly relevant today in considering presidential leadership, past and present:

"Great crowds were traveling with Jesus,
and he turned and addressed them,
"If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother,
wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even his own life,
he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me
cannot be my disciple.
Which of you wishing to construct a tower
does not first sit down and calculate the cost
to see if there is enough for its completion?
Otherwise, after laying the foundation
and finding himself unable to finish the work
the onlookers should laugh at him and say,
'This one began to build but did not have the resources to finish.'
Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down
and decide whether with ten thousand troops
he can successfully oppose another king
advancing upon him with twenty thousand troops?
But if not, while he is still far away,
he will send a delegation to ask for peace terms.
In the same way,
anyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions
cannot be my disciple."

When you first encounter that passage -- sitting in a pew with your parents, brothers and sisters -- it might sound strange to the childlike listener. Hate your family?? But in understanding the meaning not so much to be literal, but to be in prioritizing -- Love the Lord more than your earthly family and possessions -- you kinda get it in repeated readings.

The Cross isn't a shiny gold symbol afterall; it's struggle. Ah, but the victory that lies in the redemption, for those who have faithfully borne those crosses and still believed in Almighty Love...