Leaving parents for Jesus' sake?

[notredame_999]

I don’t know where it is in the bible, but Christ mentions that (paraphrase) “anyone who loves their mother or father more than me is not worthy of me,” also, “anyone who leaves their father or mother to follow me will be repaid many times over.” Is this necesarilly a call to the celibate religious life? What would be an example of loving parents more than Christ? If a young adult is living with a family who is very loving but doesn’t follow certain teachings like contraception and the need for sacraments, should they pack up and leave?

 

[Pieman333272]

Wow, i didn’t know that he said that . Anyway, I would advise not. That would not be honoring your mother and father, another statement by Jesus. You should go to Church without them if they don’t go and ask a priest if you can receive sacraments and do your studies without them being with you. If you can’t decide, then ask God. I believe leaving their father or mother means if they don’t follow Christ like you. Oh, and I found an instance of his saying that:
[BIBLEDRB]Luke 14:26[/BIBLEDRB]

 

[Mark77]

It’s simple.

God first, parents & family second!

Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, Ora Pro Nobis Peccatoribus!

mark

 

[NHInsider]

First, Jesus often used hyperbole to prove His points. So the point here, as Mark has pointed out, is that God has to come first in our lives, and our devotion to Him should be so strong that our natural love for our parents should appear to be hate by contrast.

There are other places where Jesus reinforces the fourth commandment (“Honor thy Father and Mother”) and one of the hypocrisies for which He condemned the Pharisees was the practice of declaring that ones worldly goods were designated for the Temple and thereby avoiding ones responsibility to support ones parents. So you cannot use this verse to claim Jesus wants children to leave their parents without isolating it from the rest of Scripture.

The issue of living with people (parents or spouses) who do not believe or obey the gospel is a delicate one, and there are certainly times when ones responsibilities to God outweigh the obligations to the family (think of the number of saints who fled their family homes to avoid forced marriages). But I don’t believe it could be used to require or justify a child leaving home just because the family aren’t practicing Catholics.