In typical Semitic fashion, Jesus makes a stark exaggeration of “hating” your mother and father, etc. How was the term “hate” used in other areas of the New Testament? The force of the word is typically Semitic and was used in Matthew’s gospel, where the term means “loves father or mother more,” which would tell us that the meaning of hate in this context means to love less. Bishop Robert Barron writes that a great spiritual principle undergirds today’s reflection verse: detachment. The heart of the spiritual life is to love God and then to love everything else for the sake of God. But we sinners, as St. Augustine said, fall into the trap of loving the creature and forgetting the Creator. When we treat something less than God as God, that’s when we get off the rails, and trouble ensues. And therefore, Jesus tells his fair-weather fans that they have a very stark choice to make. Jesus must be loved first and last—everything else in their lives has to find its meaning in relation to him. The life of Jesus is about choosing a different way to live. It’s a choice to favor him above all things in life or favor the ways of the world. Only one choice will bring true joy, peace, happiness, and eternal life.